


Violent Delights

by BrandiGoesBang



Category: Original Work
Genre: Blood and Violence, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Hostage Situations, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Going to Hell, I'm Sorry, Inspired by..., Kidnapping, Killing, Murder, Psychological Horror, Psychological Torture, Russian Mafia, Serial Killers, Slow Burn, Stalking, Stockholm Syndrome, Strong Female Characters, Survival Horror, Threats of Violence, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-11-27
Packaged: 2018-10-22 09:21:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 40,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10694085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrandiGoesBang/pseuds/BrandiGoesBang
Summary: Evie Islas is a young modern woman trying to navigate her hopeless online dating life, or lack thereof, when she catches the curiosity of a serial killer.Levi Volkov, a professional model by day and a ruthless killer for the Russian mob by night is as handsome as he is monstrous with a taste for violent delights.After he witnesses the extenuating circumstances that lead Evie to kill a man in an online date gone horribly wrong, he decides she will be his. Now as the object of his affectionate obsession will she survive? Or will she die?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This work depicts graphic descriptions of violence and murder. Please read the tags. I will update the tags as necessary as the story progresses. This work will depict a heroine trying to survive in unsavory conditions, please be advised.

There is a point when an animal realizes it is in danger. Most living things are able to make these jumps quickly, using their senses and genetic memory to ensure their survival. Humans, for the most part, have started to lose these baser instincts, relying heavily upon the laws of society and democracy.

For Evie Islas, those instincts were awakening. The tendrils of dread had started to curl up within her and just as abruptly, had seized, squeezing around her consciousness so viciously that she gasped aloud from the shell shock of it.

The animal part of her brain was saying danger, but still, the polite human in her was trying to rationalize the threat away.

Stupid, stupid online dating, she thought with real feeling. Fuck.

Her date, who had shown up late, went Dutch, and who had offered to walk her down the dark city streets to her car for the sake of chivalry, ironically enough, was the real and present danger she was now facing.

He had whirled her into an alley, and was using his considerable size to trap her against the harsh surface of a brick office building. It was 2AM and empty, much like most of the city streets.

Was this really happening? Her mind reeled. Surely this wasn't happening. Her body was reflexively responding. Moving against him, politely and futilely pushing him away, as if it was all a a simple misunderstanding.

Perhaps it was? Women were awfully forward nowadays. Maybe he was used to one night stands?

Even disoriented, Evie's voice was firm, not leaving any room for misinterpretation, "I'm not that kind of girl, Frank. I'm not into this. I just met you. I'm not going to have sex with you! Get off of me! Stop!"

He didn't. He laughed, and his breath, which she hadn't noticed before, smelled sour. But then again, all 6'1" of him had kept a polite distance before this...assault.

Now, however, he was trapping her in with his body, his hands fumbling over her clothes, the scruff of his beard, which she had found so terribly attractive before, was harshly rubbing on the delicate skin of her exposed neck as he loudly breathed in her scent. His teeth were too close to her pulse and it was setting her on edge, reminding her of how vulnerable she was, pinned down like prey.

He had told her he worked construction and his arms were like iron framework around her now, boxing in her petite frame. He was literally a foot taller than her and was taking ruthless advantage of it.

His hand abruptly found its way inside of her jeans, his callused hand cupping the fleshy globe of her ass and another wave of shock and disbelief hit her at the sheer audacity.

In the back of her mind she had always been aware that this was a possibility for females. She was careful to avoid situations like these. And before it had always been a numerically low probability rate of it happening to her. And here she was, about to get raped.

The thought of the word jarred her, bringing her back to her current situation.

He wasn't stopping. She was a virgin and she was about to lose her virginity in a dark and dirty alley.

"I'm a virgin! I don't want this!" the desperate plea to his reason ripping out of her like a sordid confession, the words out of her mouth before she could fully process them, before her pride could quash down the almost begging quality to it.

Frank doesn't skip a beat, continuing to rub his jean clad erection against her core, voice so terribly sure as he laughs again, "Don't worry, baby. I'll make it good for you."

Perhaps it's the absolute certainty in his voice that sets Evie off. Perhaps, it's the way that she knows without a shadow of a doubt that he has done this before. Perhaps her body had a late and very delayed reaction to her fight, flee, food, or fuck evolutionary instinctive responses and now they had surged forward, treating her as a cornered and injured animal.

But deep down, Evie knows that it's her rage that really responds. Pure, unadulterated rage. Rage at how this worthless piece of shit has come this far for what must have been a long time coming without getting the absolute shit kicked out of him to knock his unbelievably large ego down a few pegs to proper societal rule following.

She no longer saw a human in front of her, but a rabid dog that had gone unchecked for too long, leaving a path of destruction and damaged victims in his wake without a single fear of repercussion.

Evie had known violence. She had lived with it, grew with it as a child. Had learned to expect that if the right buttons were pressed, someone could smile at you one second and then hit you the next, smile notwithstanding.

She wasn't going to be the next victim for this wolf in sheep's clothing. She was done with that part of her life. Before, as a child, she hadn't known anything else. What had seemed like the natural order of things had been revealed to her later in life as something reprehensible. Evie had known a childhood of submission and fear simmering on the back burner of her mind at all times.

But now, her childlike innocence was gone, leaving a jaded and hard adult behind. Her rage poured out of her, adrenaline howling through her body, and without a shred of rational thought, she went for the kill.

As someone who had grown up in the country Evie was familiar with a wide variety of tools. She had known the lands, had hunted and fished. Had used chainsaws to cut trees, axes to split wood, machetes to clear brush. Part of that upbringing was keeping a pocket knife handy at all times. For protection and utility. In case her seatbelt jammed and she needed to cut herself out, in case she needed to pry open something else, or cut something free. In case she was attacked.

But now she was the one attacking. The steady flow of words and thoughts that surmised her consciousness had stopped and only crude animal instinct remained.

Before Evie knew it her hand had slipped to her purse, pulled out her knife, flicked it open, and in a crescent moon motion, slit the throat of her would be attacker. The motions were quick. Too quick for her brain to follow. It only processed the blood that bathed her immediately after. Hot and thick as it hit her face, splattered her glasses, and ran down her neck and into her shirt.

Frank was surprised, if his wide eyes and loud gurgling were any indications...almost as surprised as Evie was.

The knife was still in her hands and she was poised and ready for any counter attack as her dispassionate eyes unflinchingly performed a quick calculation of all the blood that was pouring out of his spasming body...surmising that there would be none. And as if waking from a dream, finally the scent of copper assailed her nose.

She jerked from the intensity of the metallic smell, so potent she could taste it on her tongue.

Her glasses were splattered, but it didn't hinder her vision from making the clear distinction of seeing the life go out of Frank as his eyes went sightless. Time slowed down. Confusion and fear contorted his visage, untamed eyebrows drawing harshly together before rising to his hairline as his mouth formed a misshapen 'O' of silently dawning horror. His hunter green eyes spun to the gleaming silver edge of the black steel of the switchblade in her manicured grip, before accusingly turning back to bore into her hazel ones. A whimper squelched from his torn throat, and then his body collapsed before her, a marionette with cut strings as he fell gracelessly to the pavement, droplets of blood jarring from his body to coat the ground closest to his oddly cocked neck.

Evie didn't realize she had been holding her breath until it wheezed out of her before returning in short, rapid pants. Her chest was heaving, the knife that she had been holding so firmly in her hands clattered to the ground as she clutched the brick wall behind her for support, and scrambled along it away from him and his sightless eyes.

Even dead, she couldn't tear her eyes away from him as she retreated from the carnage, her wide hazel eyes darting frantically over the crimson liquid spilling along the cracks in the concrete.

"You're kinda scary."

Evie swiveled her head to the sound, but couldn't catch a glimpse of the source of it before her vision blacked out. She heard herself fall, felt the vibration in her skull from the resounding impact, and then the floor of the alleyway slanting down.

"But you don't scare me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note:
> 
> I love feedback! Please feel free to comment to your heart's content about anything you like or feel as though I could improve upon!
> 
> I appreciate the time that you took to read my work. Thank you kindly!


	2. Chapter 2

Evie awoke to the sound of her teeth chattering in her skull. The full body shiver that wracked her core added a metallic rattling into the wave of vibrations that crashed over her; her muscles the base tone in her throbbing head, and the shackles on her wrists the treble to a headache inducing soundtrack. She winced from how loud the noise was at it cut through the darkness that surrounded her.

"So, our sleeping beauty has finally awoken."

A familiar, deep, rich voice filled the void. It was the same voice that had witnessed her slaughter the man formerly known as Frank.

She froze, her heart skipping a beat as she processed how his tone belied the warnings of a dangerous predator. The harsh quality of it as loud to her as rattlesnake shaking its tail.

Confusion filled her as she tried to read the situation. She was worried about the fact that there was a witness to her crime, but judging by the way this man had tied her up and kidnapped her, she strongly suspected that a witness was the least of her concerns.

Evie tried to sit up, not wanting to be caught by him completely unaware, but her wrists did not have the slack to allow the movement, and she jerked clumsily back down to the ground. Her temple hit the floor and Evie was nervously now aware that her glasses were missing.

It wasn't as dark as she had previously thought; as she squinted she could see that there was some sort of light behind her, casting the room in enough of a soft glow to render night vision adequate.

Her lack of sight was added to an alarmingly growing list of vulnerabilities. She wasn't wearing the clothes she had put on herself this morning. Was it still this morning?

"You're realizing that you've fallen down the figurative rabbit hole, huh," he chuckled darkly, and the timbre caused the hairs to raise on the back of her neck, "Nothing is the way it should be and you don't know where you are."

He was coming closer now, his voice becoming slightly louder, his footsteps quiet, but very noticeable in the darkness. Panic filled her. She was well and truly trapped this time.

Adrenaline flooded her system and she could feel her pulse crashing in her ears. She dragged her wrists to her sternum and pulled herself along the floor so that she had some give with the chains, enough to attempt to shield her heart and face as she curled into a fetal position.

Her ankles were tied together, and the knowledge of that added to her fear. She couldn't escape. She was going to have to take whatever he was going to dole out.

And then he was upon her. He stepped one Adidas clad foot over her and then squatted down on top of her to firmly push her left shoulder flat to the ground, while his other hand grabbed her ankle bindings and straightened out her legs so he could kneel over her without getting a knee in the crotch.

He was fucking big and she didn't need her glasses to tell as much.

His shoulders were broad, but his torso and his biceps seemed to be muscularly proportional. He wasn't bulky like a bodybuilder but with how effortlessly he had pulled her legs straight, he was undoubtedly strong. His hair was short, but it also looked like it was long on top. Was that a pompadour? A fade, perhaps?

Evie was almost thankful that she couldn't see everything in detail.

A memory rose, unbidden, and she remembered the happy screams of an amusement park. She hadn't wanted to ride the rollercoasters, but she didn't want to be labeled a chicken, either. The solution was to take her glasses off. It had made everything less scary if she couldn't see it properly. When she had initially taken them off, she had explained that she didn't want to lose them, but it had been a convenient cover up for the dual purpose.

Perhaps not seeing death coming would be a small mercy. She choked down the laugh that almost bubbled out of her from the absurdity of it. Laughing right now would not be a good idea. Nothing good would come out of egging on the psychopath.

His hand started to reach for her and she flinched from it. Large fingers brushed her bangs gently from her face before tracing down the side of her cheek, stilling.

His thumb rubbed the top of her cheekbone, "Your eyes are one of your better features, which is funny because they're so fucked up." A flash of teeth made her think he might have smiled, but it was hard to tell.

Curiosity threaded through his tone, which had until now been confident, "Why do you hide them behind your glasses and bangs? You're so plain; you would think you would draw more attention to your more attractive features, as women are usually wont to do."

Expectant silence filled the room.

"I like my glasses," Evie found herself explaining since he actually seemed as if he was waiting for her to answer, "And I don't trust strangers with lasers or scalpels to touch my eyes. I let my hair stylist decide my hair style. I like it long, but I give her liberty to make slight changes. I'm not very keen on fashion."

He chuckled again, "No, no you're not."

The tone was playful; too playful. It was borderline flirtatious, as if he was teasing her. There was something not quite right with him. He was talking to her like they were old friends.

It was terrifying.

"Perhaps, with your glasses on," he explained as he settled her glasses back on her nose and gently threaded them over her ears, "It'll make me think twice before hitting your pretty plain face."

He came into abrupt detail in the dim lighting.

He was breathtakingly handsome with classic good looks that would have made him popular no matter what time period. A strong jaw, prominent cheek bones, a straight and proportional nose that drew the eyes down to a perfectly arched and full mouth, dark brows that topped eyes so full of blue, green, and silver flecks she wondered if they were real, with lashes that were full and thick without being feminine. He did have a pompadour. And his naturally dark black hair had been artfully done to an ombre fade to bright silver tipped strands.

His Adams apple bobbed as his eyes went icy, empty, calculating, "Perhaps not."

She shivered, not entirely from the cold, but most assuredly from the threat. He was too handsome. It made her uncomfortable. The prettiest things in nature were often the deadliest, full of poison.

His head cocked to the side as he considered her with the same calculating gaze.

It was as if he were staring straight into her and wondering what it would be like to pick apart her insides.

"You're not like the others," he said so tonelessly that Evie wondered if he even knew he was talking out loud.

He smiled and his face transformed from emotionless killer to shameless heartthrob, "I just saw you and knew I had to have you."

So, he was flirting with her.

He ran his hand through her hair, "You're so petite, like a doll, I dressed you up in my clothes."

She hazarded a glance down, not wanting to take her eyes off of him for too long, and sure enough she was wearing a men's dark gray cotton shirt. She couldn't see past him, but the feel of the elastic waistband on her midsection hinted that she might have been wearing his boxer briefs as well.

"Your clothes were covered in blood. It was a good look on you, but I had to dispose of them," he lamented.

He mused, "Normally, the people I bring here don't get to wear clothes...but it seemed wrong to leave someone as innocent as you so bare."

Evie flushed, comprehending immediately that he had heard her pleading to Frank.

"Oh wow, you're actually pretty adorable," he laughed, and his eyes softened as his fingertips traced her spreading blush, "I didn't think I would be able to embarrass you, since you're so matter of fact for a woman. I'm rather pleasantly surprised!"

His face shut down again, and even though the emotion was gone, his smile remained, icy and menacing, "Which is good for you. I was debating on checking for myself, but this is proof enough."

"It is somewhat peculiar though, isn't it?" his curiosity had returned and he eased himself down her body, taking her in, "You're an old maid in this day and age. And you don't seem particularly religious, or damaged. And even though at first glance you're not anything special, your body isn't terrible. Your boobs aren't big, but they aren't small either, and you have a fantastic ass, not to mention the shapely thighs to go with it. His hand splayed across her belly, pushing at the soft flesh, "You have a little bit of a belly, yeah, but there are a lot of men who don't mind this at all."

"So, what are you waiting for, eh?" he asked, eyes expectantly staring at her, waiting for a response.

Evie gulped, nervously looking into his bright eyes and then looking away, "I was just waiting for someone who wanted to stick around." Her hazel eyes settled on the shackle around her left wrist and frowned when it dawned on her that she might have picked the wrong choice of words.

"Ahhh," he sighed in understanding, "Not lucky in love?"

Evie's eyes were still staring at her shackle, "Among other things."

Her captor snorted in surprised laughter, the sound unflattering enough that she considered it to be an honestly positive, if somewhat startled, response. She hoped she never heard a genuinely negative one, and that was a sobering thought. She needed to be more careful with her words. Her usual lack of filter might get her killed here.

"Can't argue with you there," he replied and there's a momentary and very ridiculous panic in Evie that he had replied to her thoughts instead of her words.

He stands up, and walks away, and Evie simultaneously wants him to leave and to stay; wants him away, and wants him to stay, where there aren't any weapons in his immediate vicinity.

There is the sound of a faucet turning, and water falling obstructed before it hits a basin. He returns into viewpoint, and his hair has been slicked back, presumably with the water. He stretches out like a tiger beside her and falls to rest on his stomach close to her face, "Do you remember me now?"

Evie's eyes rake over his hair, since it's what has changed the most and she searches her memory banks for his face. With his hair like this it's hard to see the color gradation.

He winks, flirtatiously and it's enough to trigger her memory.

"You were in the bar!" And though it takes her by surprise, it makes the most sense. She didn't go out a lot and she wasn't very outgoing enough on her own to draw attention to herself in day to day activities.

He breaks out into an excited smile, baring his perfectly straight and even teeth with a hint of too much canine to be considered perfectly normal. A happy noise purrs out of his throat and Evie is terrified of what might have happened if she had guessed wrong. He smiles as he cedes, "I was going to be a little offended if I was so easily forgotten."

He had caught her gaze when her date had left to go use the bathroom. He had smiled, winked, and raised a glass to her, as if silently asking if she wanted a drink. It was as bold and flattering as it was improper.

Embarrassment and discomfort welled up in her, "I, I didn't mean to offend you! I was just there with another guy and it would have been rude to start flirting with someone else while I was already on a date. I couldn't accept it because it would have been wrong-"

"Hush," he commanded, shushing her with a finger, "There's no need to fret. You acted like a lady. You turned me down with a gentle smile. It was written all over your face how flattered you were, and it was surprising to see such loyalty...particularly towards a man you had only just met."

Evie's brows drew sharply together as she wondered how he knew that. Had he been stalking her for very long? How had she not noticed?

He tapped her furrowed brows gently, letting her know he was answering her unasked question, "I switched seats after that and moved behind you to eavesdrop on your conversation. I thought that maybe you were lovers since you showed such dedication to him, but your conversation proved it to be your first meeting."

He scoffed, "I was a little offended, then, especially since I've used less effort to summon married women to seek me out in the bathroom for a quick fuck...but your conversation intrigued me. I wanted to know more about you."

"Why?" Evie asked, incredulously, before she could stop herself, it was simply too hard to believe anything about herself could be that interesting. She hardly remembered her conversation with Frank, and she actively participated in it. The only thing memorable about it was how flippantly rude his prattling was.

He drawled out a dark smile in response, "Because your date was a piece of shit and you were dancing on a line between polite kindness and brutal honesty. Most women ignore the stupid things men say with a silly smile on their silly faces, but you sat there, and politely called him out."

"I mean, he wasn't as handsome as I am, but he was fairly attractive. Most women would have rolled with it, but I could see in your face that it didn't matter how attractive he was, because you had already decided that you didn't like him as a person, and yet..." He trailed off, as if musing on his replay of the situation, "It didn't stop you from treating him with respect. It was so strange to witness a woman being harshly intelligent, naively innocent, and inordinately kind."

He laughed, as if remembering a little joke, "It was hilarious to listen to you defend the bar waitresses against his petty insults. Again, most women would have joined in on the malicious gossip, out of the sake of competition, but you sat there and politely defended them with a tiny disapproving frown on your tiny little mouth." He smiled as his finger traced along her bottom lip, gently enough to confuse her.

She had frowned, and she wasn't coy about letting her disapproval be known as Frank had started commenting on how trashy their bright red lipstick was. It was ridiculous, as they were bar waitresses. The revealing clothing and loud makeup were practically a part of their uniform. Sex sells and they were there to make money, not go to church; or so she had said.

"It was endearing because instead of being a bitch about it, you patiently explained and gave your reasons. Your eyes were angry, but your words were patient and polite. You would have made a good teacher."

Ahh, and there it was. Past tense.

If he had already decided he was going to kill her then there wasn't much hope for her, chained to the floor as she was. But, seeing as how he was being so cordial with her, there was a chance he hadn't yet reached a final decision.

He had spontaneously taken her, or so he had made it seem. Evie dared to shoot a quick cursory glance around her now that her night vision had adjusted.

Nothing about this room said spontaneous.

Various equipment was strewn about and there was a metal table against a wall. From her position on the floor she couldn't see what was on it but she strongly suspected it was nothing good. There was even a drain installed in the floor to erase any and all doubt.

The acidic taste of fear crawled up her throat and an involuntarily fine tremble spread through her as she forced herself to breathe even and steady as the implications of all of the equipment settled in.

He was calm right now because she hadn't given him a reason to be angry with her yet, and she had to make sure that she didn't.

She had no prior behavior to take into consideration and she didn't know what might set him off, or how explosively violent his temper might be towards his victims.

She could very well look at him the wrong way and he might bash her skull in.

Her thoughts were a whirl of possibilities and what ifs and she didn't want death to take her by surprise. She wanted, no, needed to know if it was coming.

Her gut told her that now was the time to ask questions, even if the learning curve would be steep, if he was going to be lax with her it would be now, right at the very start.

"Are you going to kill me right now?" she asked, and even though it was soft Evie was proud that her voice didn't tremble as treacherously as her body had.

He didn't hide the monster lurking within him at all as he gazed down at her, his casual mask gone completely. His eyes bored into her own and the intensity of it was so strong it was almost an oppressively tangible thing between them, a force pushing her down against the smooth floor, making it difficult to breathe.

"I haven't decided yet."

The air rushed out of her lungs in sharp relief and she bit the inside of her cheek to stop her nervous laughter from bubbling out.

Eye contact had never bothered Evie before. She didn't have trouble maintaining it, even with strangers, though most people had told her it was off putting. She wasn't aggressive by nature, merely curious, and found that people revealed more about themselves when being looked at directly.

Now, though, she had met her match.

This man was the epitome of predator. Dangerous.

But he was also just a man and she had to remember that. She had never formally learned psychology, but it had come relatively easily to her in school. She had a keen sense of apathy, and was proficient in observing the subtle nuances of other people.

Evie knew she could do this. She would survive this, or quite frankly she would die.

He was quietly observing her himself, undoubtedly waiting for a response to how ambiguous he had declared her future.

"Thank you for letting me wear your clothes," she smiled, and it came naturally to her. She honestly was thankful he hadn't chained her naked to the floor since he very well could have and she focused on that small kindness to make her smile real, more genuine.

A blink, and then the monster within the man was gone, he smiled back, and it was brilliant, so breathtaking that she wondered if she had pleasantly surprised him again, "You're welcome."

He looked over his shoulder as if he was considering something, and then turned back, "I was going to leave you here for a few days to mellow you out. Most people start screaming, crying, that sort of nonsense, but you're pretty quick on the uptake, huh, Evie?"

She wasn't sure if she was supposed to respond so she waited for a tell.

He turned back to her, smiling, and she knew that he knew what she was doing. He playfully ran his fingers through her hair and gently patted her scalp, "You're already doing so good."

She smiled back, because he was smiling and tried to make it natural. It was ingrained into her being to return smiles, and this made it easier.

She needed to train him as much as he was training her.

He abruptly jumped up from a push up and the ease and fluidity with which he did it was impressive. Someone that big should not move so gracefully.

He squatted down and pulled his keys out of his pocket, pointing one key at her as he instructed, "I'm going to give you a room instead of the floor. There's a toilet in it which I'm sure you're going to need shortly."

"Thank you," Evie said earnestly, relief plaintive. She had been worried that she wouldn't be allowed to use a toilet. And now that it had been mentioned, she was all too aware of how full her bladder felt.

"You're welcome," he grinned jovially, before it became sharklike enough to make the hair on her neck stand up, "But if you try and fight me when I unlock you from the floor I am going to beat the absolute shit out of you."

Evie nodded her head solemnly, sensing that he was spoiling for a squabble from the chance he was taking in releasing her.

He was still grinning and there was something maniacal about it. She could see his pulse fluttering in his throat and she would bet money he had adrenaline pumping through him. A wolf ready to pounce.

His giddiness caused the tendrils of fear to creep up her spine, effectively immobilizing her. She could see it in his visage that he wanted the excuse to hurt her. He was practically gleeful at giving her the opportunity to defy him.

He unlocked the padlock chaining her ankles, eyes never leaving hers, and after her still compliance he repeated the same ministrations to the padlock holding the chain attached to her shackles and Evie felt hypnotized. She had heard of this phenomenon before, in cobra prey, but she had never thought it would ever apply to her.

Her hands had been clasped together over her heart and she could suddenly feel it pounding in her chest.

Slowly, he pulled the chain free and then rapidly stood up, using it to pull her up abruptly. It happened too quickly for her weakened body to handle. Her equilibrium was thrown off and her legs were too shaky to support her weight.

She clumsily slammed into his body and yelped as she felt herself start to fall back to the floor. She knew better than to try and hold onto him, not wanting him to mistake any of her actions as an affront, and braced herself for the ground, which she felt was a safer alternative at this point.

It didn't come, though. He caught her with an arm around her waist and a smile as he held her as precariously as a dancer mid dip, using his other hand to hold the chain binding her wrists.

"Oops, forgot that you still might be a little drowsy from the drugs and lack of food," he mock apologized, his posture relaxing against her as he scanned her over, her weakened body seemingly submissive enough to calm the beast that had risen so quickly to the surface moments before.

His actions changed accordingly, switching from hostile to seductively gentle as he slowly smiled down at her.

How could someone so dangerous look so charming?

He pulled her back into him with the chain and hugged her body close to his, burying the confusion in her face into his all too expansive and intimidatingly solid chest in a motion that was far too tender for a man who had a torture room.

She really was tiny compared to his massive frame. Before he had looked 6'2" but now she realized he was closer to 6'4". How the hell did he even notice her?

A happy sound rumbled through him, "You are so fucking tiny that it's hard not to manhandle you."

Evie was trying to stand on her own feet, but even with his assistance it was hard. Her legs were quivering, and she felt weak, empty and drained. How many days had she been unconscious? A surprised whimper escaped her when she felt her knees give out unexpectedly.

Unceremoniously, he caught her in a way that made her slide more intimately against him. He must have found something amusing about this because when he laughed, it rumbled through her.

"Relax, I've got you." The words were spoken darkly because he meant it in more ways than one.

Not seeing the need for it anymore, he let go of the chain and picked her up bridal style. Evie's heart skipped a beat effortless he made the motion seem and blushed when she realized she had never been carried like this by a man before.

It felt wrongly intimate as he cradled her to his body and let her chain trail the ground behind them. He brought them around a corner, and through an open door into a small cell. True to his words, there was a toilet in the right corner and on the left there was a rubber mat. It was made of some sort of plastic and Evie suspected that it was chosen because of how easy it would be to clean.

Her captor gently deposited her on the mat and scooped up the end of the chain to lock to a metal ring that had been installed in the wall above the mat. It was about three feet off the ground and she wondered how many times it had been used.

There was also another drain built into the floor here.

"Go ahead and try to use the bathroom. I'll be back with some food in five minutes," and then he was gone with a wink, the door to her cell closing behind him. It afforded only a small amount of privacy, as there was a small window that matched his height.

Evie turned her attention back to her chains and eyeballed the toilet. Ever since he had mentioned it, she really did have to go. And if he was coming back in five minutes she needed to attempt making use of the facilities in the time he had allotted her.

She crawled over to the toilet and using it, and the wall, was able to get herself on top of it. The chain was long enough to allow it, but not long enough to get to the door.

She could feel herself blushing as she pulled down his boxer briefs and stared at the window while she peed. Thankfully, there was a roll of toilet paper on top of the toilet and she was quick to finish up and right herself before shakily relocating to the mat, allowing herself to lean heavily against the wall and the corner.

Her new bed was bright red and a stark contrast to the white tile walls and floor. The toilet was also white. The only other contrasting colors belonged to the silver drain and dark gray metal ring and chains she was attached to.

There wasn't even a handle in the door from her side, she realized grimly as she stared at the door, wondering how long it would take for him to come back through it.

She closed her eyes and traced the lines of the mat beneath her. Evie hoped that it didn't smell like blood. She was tired again, mentally exhausted from her predicament, and weak from lack of food.

Eventually she would fall asleep and there was a chance that she wouldn't wake up again.

She still didn't know his name. This man who might kill her.

The sound of the door opening brought her out of her reverie. He came back with a plate, but she couldn't see what was on it from her location on the floor.

He regarded her position against the walls for a moment and casually approached her, "You've been asleep for three days. The drugs should be out of your system but let me know if you feel any lingering side effects besides lethargy."

She nodded minutely at him as he sat down cross legged before her. He gestured to the soup, "We'll start you off with some soup and crackers."

Her eyes dropped curiously to the plate and its contents. Chicken noodle soup and some wheat crackers that looked healthier than regular saltine crackers. They looked expensive. Even the chicken soup was spotted with small cubed carrots and peas and noodles fancier than the plain kind.

The higher quality food belied the notion that her captor was financially successful, given how much money would be needed to renovate a basement into a dungeon complete with torture room.

But, then again, it could also be because he treated his body very well. He was in immaculate shape.

The trails of steam caught her eye and her mouth watered. She was hungry, but more than that she was freezing. Chicken noodle soup had never before looked so appealing to her.

Evie swallowed nervously as a nagging fear crept up. He could sit there and eat it in front of her if he wanted. Best not to reach for it and give him any ideas. He had made it seem like it would be for her but she didn't want him to mistake her eagerness for lack of respect.

Instead she tore her eyes away from the invitingly hot meal and looked up at her keeper. She folded her hands politely in her lap and tried not to think on how even now, sitting down, he still dwarfed her.

"Thank you for being so generous with me."

A smirk pulled the corner of his mouth up, "I reward good behavior, Evie." The opposite was implied without being said. He was good with threats. She wondered if the conviction with which he stated them came from practical application.

"Like this," he explained, dipping a cracker in the soup before his long reach brought it to her mouth, "Open up."

He was going to feed her, she realized, dumbly, as a furious blush stole across her face. Hot embarrassment seized her and she had to fight the reflexive motion to hide herself.

Until this moment, she didn't know that such a simple thing could cause her such distress.

There was something mortifying about how another human being was going to feed her. She was going to sit with her mouth gaping open like a fish and wait to be fed. Disgusted, Evie herself had no recollection of ever being fed in her entire life. She had never been so helpless before.

Her pride hurt as she glanced down and remembered that her wrists were shackled together and that the movements of trying to feed herself would be hindered greatly.

She couldn't refuse him. This was probably the first of many exercises in which he would remind her of his authority and dominance over her.

For the first time, she wanted to cry. Not because she was afraid to die but because she was being robbed of control. Her eyes felt hot and she had to fight the sting of tears. She had always been proud. She had always been able to take care of herself.

And now that power was in someone else's hands.

She opened her mouth and he placed the cracker gently inside.

It was hot, and flavorful, and the warmth of it calmed her. She shuddered, shame and relief warring within her as her eyes fluttered automatically closed to savor the food her body so desperately craved and to quash down her rising torrent of emotions.

Distracted by her own inner turmoil her lips brushed against the tips of his fingers and she whimpered from how awkwardly intimate the gesture was.

Cringing, she hoped he didn't use this accidental action against her, using it as an excuse to violate her and claim that she had been asking for it. And then, what? She would only get this taste of food and nothing else. And now that she had a taste she was ravenous. It was maddening, realizing just how helpless to his whims she was.

Her breathing changed, and faintly, she speculated if this was what a panic attack felt like.

Evie sensed her entire body tighten, and she waited for him to strike her or worse. She had tasted the salt of his skin. The sensation of him in her mouth had felt wrong. Too intimate.

She flinched again as he cupped her face in his large hands and she almost wheezed in relief again when she felt his thumbs wipe away tears that she hadn't even known she had shed.

Her eyes opened to see him staring quietly down at her. "Silly girl. Calm down. This is a reward. I'm not punishing you. Why are you so upset?"

Evie blinked and scrutinized his demeanor.

His face was impassive. No frown lines. He wasn't angry. His eyes were drilling into hers but there wasn't hostility in their depths, only intense inspection. He kept digging.

"Couples feed each other all the time. This is a romantic gesture. Women always respond favorably to being doted on."

He was confused. And that startled her. But it made sense. Most killers were only good at acting human. Perhaps he really didn't understand. This was an opportunity to educate him. Perhaps helping him empathize her plight might work in her favor. Perhaps not, but there was no harm in being honest about something so insignificant.

"I'm embarrassed. I've never had someone...feed me before," Evie found herself speaking easily, and suspected that his direct questions were supposed to be met with her honest answers. It didn't feel dangerous to respond to him like this.

"I'm not used to being touched. I haven't had a lot of practice," and admitting it was hard, as if she was lacking in some way. She looked down at her hands, her index fingers were pointed and pressed together, and the resistance felt good as an outlet since she couldn't fidget under his gaze.

His finger lifted her head up and his empty face was slowly turning thoughtful, "I appreciate your honesty. I like that about you. It's refreshing to speak with someone so guileless."

His face slowly transitioned to something more heated as his eyes roved over her again. And this time there was something very primal about his eyes as he smiled darkly, "I've never gone after virgins. I like to prey upon more worldly game. Those more deserving of being put in their place."

He pulled her chained hands with one hand so he could pull her forward and reposition her in his lap.

She landed in his lap, her legs thrown over his own crossed ones, his left arm braced solidly against her back so he could force her to lean against him more comfortably.

"It pleases me that you aren't familiar with being touched by other men. You really are all mine and you will be in every sense of the word."

Evie stiffened at his last sentence and he laughed when she worriedly glanced at the red mat, "Not yet, Evie, not yet."

He laughed again when she relaxed, pacified for the moment by his placating.

"Now," he said seriously, reaching out for the discarded soup, "You're just going to let me feed you. This is the first time I've done this and actually wanted to. You really are like a doll, you're so small."

She was cradled against him, his left hand holding the plate with crackers and soup bowl, while his right hand picked up another cracker to dip in the broth.

"You have such a small mouth, it's all right if you touch my fingers," he said, bringing it to her mouth, smiling approvingly as she opened and allowed him to feed her, blushing more faintly now but all the same.

Evie knew it was ballsy but she couldn't resist closing her eyes when she opened her mouth. The feeling mimicking oral sex too much for her to maintain eye contact. She closed her eyes to savor each bite and while she sensed this amused him, they both pretended that was the only reason her gaze broke from his own.

Once the crackers were gone, he switched to the spoon and started her on the soup.

The spoon required more concentration in order for it to not clang against her teeth.

But not enough concentration that she didn't take time to catalogue everything her new position offered her.

He was strong, completely solid against her. Firm, with hardly any give. Under normal circumstances she would have felt safe in such an embrace. However, in the arms of her captor it held the exact opposite effect.

Spoonful by spoonful she finished and towards the end, her belly full from the warm meal and the warmth of her captor's lap in the frigid temperature of the basement, her eyes had started to droop closed.

"Don't fight it. Sleep."

Her limbs felt heavy, her hands especially with the weight of the shackles. Her joints hurt and the odd sensation reminded her of the time she had been down with the flu.

She was dehydrated.

She would be worse off later without water.

Boldly, she decided she had to ask. At least now if he hit her she really might pass out and not have to be coherent for the onslaught.

"Um, can I please have some water?" she blinked slowly up at him, and tried to make the request as meek as possible.

His face flashed something akin to excitement and he started to place her gingerly back on the mat, "I have something better. I forgot about it completely."

Evie didn't think anything could be better than water but wisely kept her mouth shut as his long strides took him out of the room and loudly up the stairs.

This time he left without closing the door.

She heard him come back down just as quickly and tried to remember how his footsteps sounded, in case she needed to distinguish him from someone else.

He came back in, dazzling smile complete with a grandiose motion of presentation for what was in his hands: a straw and a bottle of blue Pedialyte.

Evie smiled up at him and felt a little more hope flutter in. If he had bought that in preparation of her waking up then it was more likely she would stay alive longer.

He paused, and cocked his head at her reaction, before approaching. This time he sat beside her on the mat and started opening the bottle, unwrapping the plastic guards before removing the freshness seal and threading the straw into the opening.

He threw an arm around her, slotting her more closely against him and held her upright with a dominant hand splayed against her throat while he brought the straw up to her lips.

Wordlessly she drank, feeling his long fingers against her throat with each swallow.

Another intimate gesture.

She had a suspicion that he was training her not to shy from his touch.

Was he such a tactile person? Did this closeness comfort him? Or was it just another way to exert authority?

Evie needed more data, she decided, greedily sucking down as much of the Pedialyte as she could without looking like a slob.

His index finger unexpectedly traced the underside of her jaw and she almost sputtered the blue liquid out.

His laughter filled the room again, and it was teasing instead of manic. "Slow down," he chided, "You'll make yourself sick."

The words were uncharacteristically warm, making the exchange seem normal as it put her at ease. He was so good at being charming when he wanted to be.

She nodded up at him obediently and his hand around her neck moved up to gently pat her head before returning its hold on her neck, albeit more loosely now, "Good girl."

This was good, this was progress, and she relaxed just that much more against him, making sure that he felt the change in her posture.

She resumed her task and cuddled against his warmth, knowing that the gesture would be the easiest to fake now, before she had seen his dark side.

However, there was something to be said about his charms. They were so convincing. Evie realized that she hadn't had someone seek out her touch in so long. No one had ever been this insistent on finding any excuse to touch her.

It...was nice. As nice as it was dangerous for someone as touch starved as she was.

A yawn escaped her, unbidden. And her eyes watered from the force of it.

"You have a cute yawn, like a mouse squeaking," he tapped her nose, "I wonder what kind of other noises you make."

Evie gulped and turned abruptly to look for clues to his exact meaning in his face.

His mask had slipped again, and his too many teeth grin had returned. She froze and waited for his next move, to see what piece he would play.

He shuddered and the movement terrified her. As if the monster inside was awakening and wanted to come out and play.

Evie needed to distract him.

"I snore a little when I'm really tired," she said, and his hollow eyes were attentive so she continued, "And I don't sneeze loudly but I almost always sneeze in threes."

His face smoothed out and she knew now that this was definitely his thinking face.

"How do you know that you snore?"

Evie looked down, "I downloaded an app after watching a commercial for people who snore to see if maybe I snored, too."

He smiled, and it was predatory but not as scary as it was before, "You do snore. But it is very quiet. Almost like breathing with a whisper of a whistle to it."

Evie felt heat on her cheeks again. It was strange to think of something so normal in such not normal circumstances.

She had never been apologetic about being awkward around people but it was something she was aware of.

The situation was almost funny if she thought about his reaction to her snoring.

She bit her lip, and looked up again to read his expression, wondering if now would be a good time to ask him for his name.

His eyes were already watching her and he smirked, "I was wondering how long it would take you to ask."

She hadn't said a word but he already knew.

"It's Levi."

Levi. So this was the name of the man who might kill her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note:
> 
> This story is a work in progress. As such, I look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments. I'm fairly new at this, so any advice is appreciated


	3. Chapter 3

"Levi Volkov," he said after she patiently waited for him to continue.

Evie repeated him, trying to mimic the slight accent he had used when he had pronounced his last name. She hummed a moment to herself before placing the accent with the surname, "Is that Russian?"

He raised an eyebrow ever so slightly, "Very good. Yes, it is."

"You don't have an accent at all," she said, surprised. Every Russian she had ever met had a thick accent, even the ones that were her age had demonstrated a mild inflection.

"People are always more wary of outsiders," He repositioned his hand to hold her side instead of her throat and demonstrated sound coming out of his mouth with the other, "When I sound American I sound more trustworthy." He emphasized trustworthy with a hand splayed on his chest and another devious wink.

He gave her a sidelong smirk and whispered as if he was imparting a terrible secret, "It makes for easier prey."

That made sense, and Evie inclined her head minutely in agreement, "I never thought of it like that. I thought you would use your accent to sound more mysterious and exotic."

Levi's face smoothed out into that blank stare and he inclined his head, "Do you find Russian accents attractive? Russian accents usually have negative connotations. We are predominantly portrayed as the villains."

Well, if the shoe fits, buddy.

Evie bit her lip, fighting the urge to be sarcastic, and considered what a more appropriate honest answer should be.

"I find most accents attractive," she admitted, and tried to recall the one Russian out of her many online dates. What had his name been? Vlad. The most Russian name one could possibly have. It sounded intimidating but he had been anything but.

Evie considered the man beside her and determined that the only thing they had in common was the height. Vlad had been tall, with fluffy brown curly hair, and big brown puppy dog eyes. He had been three years younger than her and it showed in their every interaction. Nice guy, but too much like someone she would have had to take care of.

But she had liked his accent. It was attractive. She liked to listen to him speak, even if he hadn't been the sharpest tool in the shed he was still a nice guy. Sweet, but a little dumb.

If only she had found happiness in Vlad. 

Instead, here she was, being grilled by a murderer on ways he might better stalk his kills.

"But, I think the Russian accent is sexy in an authoritative way," Evie frowned, trying to put her finger on the exact quality of it that she liked, her thoughts still a little sluggish and tired.

She was exhausted, but the idea of sleep was seeming less and less appealing with how cold she was. She would most assuredly be left in her cell without a blanket and for the moment, being next to Levi offered her a lot of body heat. It radiated off of him like a furnace.

Excellent blood circulation was most likely the cause, and judging by how hale and healthy he was, he probably worked out excessively.

Too tired to realize what she might be giving away, she mused on, thinking out loud about the language's finer qualities, "It's very direct and commanding. And it is a very difficult language to learn."

Levi reacted immediately to that, pulling her harshly into his sights for inspection, his voice tight with barely restrained violence, "What do you know of it?"

His eyes were stone as he watched her for lies, and Evie winced from how careless she had been, her hands waving placatingly from her lap as she rushed to explain, "I can't understand it at all. I looked into learning it but it was way too hard for me to grasp. The alphabet is practically hieroglyphics. I can only understand 'yes' 'no' and 'baby'."

His eyes narrowed dangerously at 'baby' and Evie stopped breathing when his hands started to squeeze around her upper arms, jerking her to answer his question as he hissed, "Who called you that?"

Fuck. He sounded positively deadly.

"I dated a Russian guy named Vlad one time."

Levi's grip increased, he was furious, but his face held the still, impassive malevolence of a viper about to strike, causing Evie to babble out more information, searching for what he was looking for, "He liked to call me that. I didn't have sex with him. We only kissed. That was it. He was too young. He was a kid. His mom would call him a lot and I would hear him talk to her but I couldn't understand it. I tried one afternoon to learn it but I couldn't get the hang of it I promise. He didn't talk to me in Russian. He just called me baby casually. I only knew him for two weeks and then I broke it off because he was too immature. After that I never looked into the language again."

His hands were still crushing her arms, and she could feel the bruises forming under his fingers.

"What was his last name?" Levi demanded, voice oddly flat and monotone as he tightened his hold on her.

She could feel blood vessels bursting under the calloused pads of his fingertips and tears sprang to her eyes. It didn't hurt that badly but it was the unspoken promise of how worse it could quickly become that made Evie want to answer him even though she couldn't provide him with the information he was seeking.

"I don't remember," she whispered fervently, with half a mind to start praying.

But she didn't have to. Miraculously his hold slackened as quickly as it had come, "Then he wasn't important."

Evie stared at him, dazed and confused by his response. He had been seething mad a moment ago and now he was cool, calm, and collected by a jump in logic that she wasn't following. 

It was possibly due to the lingering drugs in her system or from how tired she was, but not being able to follow his logic made her more wary of her odds at surviving his whims.

Levi's gaze travelled to her arms, his fingers carefully tracing the matching bruises cuffed around her arms like violet bangles, "If you thought you might marry him then you wouldn't have forgotten his last name."

Evie blinked as she processed how strangely logical it was and watched his eyes become fascinated with her bruises. She bruised like a peach so she knew they were bad. The pressure had been too constant for the results to not be breathtaking.

"So you do find Russian accents attractive?" he asked, apparently amused by this as he chuckled to himself.

"Perhaps I shall assign you my own pet name," he smiled brightly at her and the mask was back in place, so casually put back on it was as if it had never left.

Evie glanced at the vividly violet rings around her arms to make sure she hadn't hallucinated the whole ordeal and felt her stomach lurch at how angrily the marks contrasted against her skin.

No. She was here. This was definitely reality. She felt a little dizzy.

Turning back to Levi his gaze had been drawn back to her bruises. He had withdrawn his hand a moment ago, but already his fingers were seeking out the marks again, lightly tracing the rises in her flesh from the hematomas he had inflicted, seemingly enthralled. 

His voice was rapt with quiet awe as he contemplated out loud, "I bet I could tattoo your whole body with my fingers. You bruise so easily I bet it would be like finger painting."

She couldn't stop the involuntary shudder from going down her spine at his proposal, and it didn't go unnoticed.

His quicksilver eyes flicked back to hers and he asked, skeptical, "Does it really hurt as badly as it looks?"

Evie sighed, feeling adrift. She was too tired to think. Too exhausted. She felt weary. Not just by her present circumstances or by the hot pain throbbing in her arms, but also by whatever had shaped the man before her into what he was now. Once upon a time he had been a child. And then he had been damaged. Probably much like he had just damaged her.

She understood damage. Damage dealt, and damage sustained, and the different ways it left its mark and spread out like a sickness.

Evie wondered if once upon a time they had shared the same types of bruises dealt exactly the same way.

It was like looking into a mirror of what she could have become.

"No," she found herself answering, "Right now it doesn't hurt that much. I bruise and scar very easily."

Levi smiled darkly, agreeing, "Yes, you have a couple of scars. You're not a stranger to violence, are you, Evie?"

Her head shook slowly, sadly. Her eyes were starting to slip closed. She wasn't going to be awake much longer.

"Evie, do you know your blood type?"

That startled her enough to focus on him, his gaze was inquisitive, and simultaneously busy, as if he was plotting.

"It's O positive," she replied, and wondered if she really wanted to know why he had asked such a dubiously specific question. There was a good chance she didn't want to know. 

Remembering the silvery glint of the drains in the floor, Evie decided that she didn't the same time that Levi volunteered it.

"Ahh, good, in case you lose too much blood I can give you some of mine."

The possibilities of all the implications of that single statement was her last conscious train of thought.

****************************

Evie shivered herself awake and wished for unconsciousness to take her again. She was fucking exhausted.

Her eyes opened and she blinked a few times to make sure she was opening them.

Everything was black.

Panic gripped her and she wondered if she was dead. Or buried. Her arms whipped up and around her and the sound of the chain clinking was ironically calming. The last time she had awoken the sound of it had inspired unprecedented levels of dread.

Sitting up, her elbows dug into the thin material of the mat and she breathed a sigh of relief that her surroundings hadn't changed.

It was dark because all of the lights were off. In her cell and in the basement beyond. She squinted towards where she estimated the window to her cell to be and waited to see if her eyes would adjust.

Nothing. It was black as pitch.

Now she was freezing and blind.

Laboriously, she pulled herself up and squeezed into the corner. Her upper arms were sore now that she wasn't peaking on adrenaline.

Her hands moved to pull the cold links of the chain off of her body and to pile them up beside her. She felt along the wall for the metal ring they connected to and knowing it was where she thought it would be gave her a small modicum of comfort and the most minuscule sense of accomplishment.

She drew her knees to her chest and opened his shirt to pull it over her legs. She hadn't thought about it before, but now that her bare breasts were pressed against the top of her legs, she wondered if it had been entirely necessary for him to remove her underwear.

She doubted that her bra and panties hadn't been salvageable and she was missing the small amount of warmth the extra layers would have provided her. 

How long had she been unconscious?

Evie felt along her legs and focused on what she should be feeling.

Levi had said she had been out for days...

Had he shaved her legs?

Evie felt underneath her arms and confirmed that there was no lingering scent of her deodorant, and also, no stubble.

She wasn't particularly hairy, and the hair on her arms was so fine that she had been asked if she shaved her arms before, but, even still, she should have felt stubble on her legs from a few days of growth.

Levi had likened her to a doll before. Maybe he had groomed her.

She pushed her fingers into her hair. Blood had splattered all over her face and hair, but now her strands were clean and untangled.

He had brushed her hair and everything.

Evie grimaced and felt a keen sense of ambivalence.

She was happy that he felt enough, whatever it was, to keep her somewhat clean and tidy. It meant that he placed a certain amount of value on her if he wasn't leaving her chained to a floor, lingering in her own filth.

But, as happy as she was that she was clean and allowed the use of a toilet, the blatant disregard of her privacy was disarming for Evie. Being somewhat shy to begin with made it very easy for her to succumb to embarrassment.

Not just for herself, but from the blunders of others as well.

Evie pushed the image of Levi bathing her limp, and very naked body to the far corner of her mind and tried to strain her ears for sounds that might give away movement or help her discern her location.

It was amazingly quiet. No music, or water moving in the pipes, not even the hum of electricity.

There was a chance he had a very well insulated basement but it was more likely that he had left his house, or wherever this was, if it even was a house.

And there was no telling when he would return.

Evie pushed her face into her knees and squeezed herself into a hug.

Her cell wasn't all that small, but the darkness made it claustrophobic and creepy. She wished he would have let the lights stay on.

She couldn't remember being in such absolute darkness before. At her home she kept very thin coverings on her windows so that she could wake naturally with the sun.

Even moonlight was bright enough to filter in and completely illuminate her room on nights of a full moon.

The inky blackness around her was intimidating. It was like a black hole, cold and too quiet.

She reached out to see if she could even make out the sight of her own hands before she pulled them back in towards her body sharply. 

Evie felt a sudden and very irrational fear spike in her that if she reached out too far that something else might reach back.

She was already living a nightmare, but now it was far too easy to imagine that there was something else in here with her.

How many people had died down here? Was the spirit of some poor bastard down in here with her? If she died down here would her spirit find its way out?

She cringed and shakily exhaled, squeezing her eyes shut. She needed to calm the fuck down.

Evie rubbed her face more harshly into the stretched cotton covering her knees and sighed angrily at herself. 

She was being ridiculous.

Right now was the time to relax and conserve her energy. Levi was too big of a threat for her to even entertain the notion of imaginary ones.

He had been so angry when she mentioned the Russian language...

He probably didn't want her to know it. It would make keeping things from her quite easy if everything he used was in Russian.

Evie suspected that there was much that he did not want to share with her, no matter how much she intrigued him.

But really, it was when she mentioned the pet name that he had lost his shit.

He was very possessive of her. 

Levi hadn't wasted any time in putting her in his own clothes. He could have put her in regular clothes but he had chosen more intimate attire. She was sharing his underwear for Pete's sake.

All of their interactions so far had placed him in her immediate bubble of space. He was constantly touching her and he had even encouraged her to reciprocate when he had fed her the crackers.

If he were a cat or a dog she would say he was trying to scent mark her.

Evie buried her face in the fabric of his shirt and breathed it in again, this time looking for-

Ah. There it was.

It smelled like him. It smelled faintly of cologne and...a man. This shirt hadn't been clean when it was put on her.

He had worn it and then put her in it.

Evie frowned. It didn't smell disgusting. His shirt smelled good. Appealing, even.

She didn't remember the name of the article or who had published it, but it had been about a study that had determined that a woman could determine the suitability of a male mate by how appealing his dirty laundry smelled to her.

His clothes held a faint vanilla pipe tobacco smell. It was a smoky, but sweet smelling cologne and the spicy twinge of a man who had just exercised.

It irritated her. Not only was Levi devilishly handsome but he smelled good, too? Did her body instinctively find him to be a good biological match for offspring? It was infuriating.

He was too handsome. Evie had never liked men that were too handsome. She preferred the more rugged type. Men that had a nice layer of fat over their abs. Usually with definition in their biceps but not much muscle definition anywhere else. And they were usually hairy. Not ridiculously so, but enough to be considered classically manly.

She preferred five o' clock shadows and neck hair and guys who wore blue jeans and dressed down instead of dressing up.

Levi was too perfect.

Even before she had been kidnapped and had woken up chained in a basement Evie had firmly believed that the Hot to Crazy Ratio was a real thing. And just as applicable to men as it was for women.

Super hot guys in her experience either treated women as disposable objects that could be switched out as easily as a finger swipe on a smart phone, or, were so riddled with self esteem issues that they carried too much emotional baggage to be worth the hassle.

And Levi had an ombré fade in his pompadour.

Men didn't get much more high maintenance than that.

His clothes had all been rather fitting, too. Molding perfectly around his body to show off the lines and finer angles of his musculature.

There was no doubt in Evie's mind that he used his sex appeal to get whatever he wanted.

It didn't make sense to her that he would want someone like her.

Evie really did have the shittiest luck.

And his observations of her had been rather spot on. Plain brown hair, plain face, her eyes were hazel, but it was rare that anyone ever noticed that, as most people assumed she had brown eyes. Her glasses didn't help, but she liked the way they looked and the feeling of them on her face. 

She was short. Really short, and though men had commented to her that she had a really nice ass, thighs, and legs to match, she didn't usually go around flaunting them in revealing clothing. She liked to go to the gym, but she liked to eat, too, and no matter how hard she tried she was always a size 12. A petite size 12 but a size 12 nonetheless.

She was deceptively strong because of her tighter center of gravity, but on the other hand she gained weight very easily. She wasn't ugly, but she wasn't eye catching either. Just plain. Another face in a crowd that shared common traits with so many others of the same dominant gene type.

Although she wasn't graced with stereotypical beauty, it didn't mean she had terrible self esteem; on the contrary, she liked herself just fine. The parts that she admired about herself just couldn't be seen. 

She was honest and loyal to a fault. She didn't care about gossip. She wasn't greedy and found her own rewards in being kind. She worked hard and was fairly organized and tidy.

She had an overly zealous sense of justice at times that could bring out her harsher side, but she was all about being fair and helpful when the situation called for it.

Evie was far from perfect, though. As polite as she tried to be she tended to hold onto grudges, and was easily frustrated by people who were rude. She was impatient. She didn't take criticism well, and sometimes her perfectionism towards her work ate up a lot of time and caused her to dwell on her mistakes.

She cussed like a sailor when she was in her comfort zone and had a sweet tooth a mile long to match her poor impulse control.

And ever since she had started birth control she cried over everything like a crybaby. Sad story, she cried. Overly happy story. She cried. Inspirational pet story. Cue water works. She cried over fictional characters. She cried over movies. Evie cried a lot, much to her self disgust.

She was pretty terrible with financing, too, if she was tallying all of her major flaws. Her bills were always paid on time but she couldn't save money to save her life. Evie actively participated in retail therapy.

There were many things she could improve upon herself.

But even these character flaws were common, she concluded upon her introspection.

In Evie's overly analytical mind, she couldn't make sense of it.

Why this fixation on her? Of all people.

What had she done-

Her draw dropped softly open when she realized it.

She had killed someone.

Fuck.

She had killed someone.

Levi had watched her kill someone.

The sound of a door creaking open beyond her cell filled the silence, and after the sound of a switch being switched on light spilled in through the window to her cell.

Over the hum of the fluorescents she could hear the weight of his footsteps moving hurriedly down the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try to get updates out at least once a week! Thank you again for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Levi's face filled the window and he grinned, obviously pleased to find her awake. Another flick of a switch and the light overhead cast the room into bright fluorescents as he stepped over the threshold.

Evie remained still, waiting for his mood to give her a tell. The comment about what sounded like her inevitable blood loss had put her on edge.

His clothes were different from before. Now he was wearing some moccasins that looked more like slippers instead of shoes, blue jeans, and a three quarter sleeve black shirt with the only three buttons it possessed open at the top to make a V.

He was quickly approaching her, but stopped when he realized she had pulled her legs under his shirt.

A frown marred his perfect face and he tilted his head curiously, "Are you cold?" His tone was as if he hadn't even considered that she would be even though her clothing was measly.

Evie almost sighed in relief, relieved that he seemed to be in good enough spirits to be concerned with her well being.

She nodded, an awkward smile plastered on her face as if to apologize for the inconvenience.

"You look like shit." There was no heat to it, but he wasn't joking, just stating the facts.

A bubble of laughter escaped her before she could stop herself. She hadn't expected it and the deadpan assessment of her was hilarious in how flawless the delivery was, even if it was unintentional. 

Evie cleared her throat to interrupt herself before it could spiral into hysterical giggles and she shrugged, "I believe you."

Levi cocked his head again, inquisitively taking her in before he slowly smiled and slinked into a crouch before her.

"You seem pretty chipper for a girl who just murdered someone," he looked inordinately pleased by this. A cat licking cream off of his claws type of pleased.

It wiped the smile right off of her face.

He continued, not missing a beat, "I mean, I half expected to come down here and have to listen to your sniveling about how sorry you were for poor old Frank."

He was right. Shouldn't she be upset? Evie pulled his shirt up and over her legs, crossing them before smoothing the fabric down her stomach where the lengths draped onto her thighs.

In realty, she had almost forgotten about Frank completely.

Looming over her, Levi made a tsk tsk noise and used a finger to lift her averted gaze back to his eyes as they hardened, "But we both know you're not sorry. Huh, Evie?"

Was she sorry? She didn't feel sorry. Frank had crossed a line and trapped her into a corner. She had warned him, begged him, even, and he had willfully ignored her.

No, she wasn't sorry. Frank had started it, and she had finished it. Did he deserve death? Maybe not, but she had acted on animalistic instinct. She hadn't intended to kill him, but she didn't feel guilty about the end result. The phrase 'crime of passion' lingered in her mind but she hadn't read enough about it to know if it could be appropriately applied to her situation.

There was no such thing as a fair fight. People who delighted in cruelty didn't fight with a code of honor. Evie had fought to win. Wounding someone bigger than you only left an opening for them to recover and increase the likelihood of sustaining greater damage or even death.

Either way, she didn't feel bad for Frank. She felt bad that he had forced her hand, but the fault of that rested entirely with him.

Evie looked up at Levi, resolute in her response, "No, I'm not sorry."

He grinned lazily, and his pupils dilated ever so slightly at her admission.

"В тихом омуте черти водятся," he whispered, his words sounded approving even though she didn't understand him. He moved his hand from her chin to cup her cheek, idly stroking it with his thumb.

Her mouth opened to ask him what it meant, but she opted to close it, thinking it best for her not to ask. He had made it pretty clear that he wasn't happy at the prospect of her understanding Russian.

He patted her cheek, lightly, acknowledging her reluctance, "In English it would be 'still waters run deep...' but that is not entirely correct. Plainly, it is better described as 'under calm waters devils dwell.'"

Evie didn't know how she felt about that. It felt like he was complimenting her in his own way, and also reminding her of the similarities between them.

Levi pulled his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the chain at the end where it connected to her shackles. Instantly, she felt lighter, and it was only then that she realized how heavy the chain had been now that she was freed from it. 

With a careful eye he observed her as she rotated her wrists, "I watched you with him all night, and I thought to myself: here is a sheep about to get slaughtered."

Evie stopped at the word, surprised by how much vehemence he had put into it.

Levi twirled the keys in his hand, acting as if he was bored but his face looked tight, a muscle in his jaw was spasming periodically.

"You were just, nice. You smiled at the bar staff behind the bar, you tipped well for your drinks, you smiled and you looked the busboy in the eye and thanked him with a real smile as you placed your empty glasses in his hand instead of ignoring him and making him reach for it."

Evie felt strange, hearing him recount things that she deemed so minuscule, so normal. It was just polite. Good manners.

Levi reached over and effortlessly scooped up her small frame in his arms, burying his face into the top of her hair, hiding his expression from her as he continued, "There isn't anything special about you, but when you smiled it was dazzling."

Her cheeks burned. A compliment from a murderer shouldn't do that, but it did. It didn't go unnoticed that he had purposefully hidden his expression from her.

It could mean that it was an honest compliment, but it could also mean that he was lying and trying to manipulate her. Either one was just as likely as the other.

His voice grew quieter, more hushed as his voice ruffled her hair, "I don't know why I followed you. But I wanted to know what would happen. And it played out like I thought it was going to..."

He kissed her hair and then stood up, hoisting her up a little more so she was face to face with him, his eyes manic and bright with excitement as he continued, "...until I saw the rage rise up within you and you slit his throat."

Evie remembered the rage. The fury that had spurned her into action from her shocked stupor. Electrifying her reflexes and strengthening her muscles so that her counterattack had felt effortless, almost natural in its execution.

Levi's rich timbre drew her out of her memories, his lips a hair's breadth away from her ears. He had gotten so close and she hadn't even noticed.

"It was the first time I saw the lamb sacrifice the butcher."

The memory of his throat opening under her blade rose up, in slow motion she could see it in her mind, pay more attention to how the layers underneath had become visible, the flash of his esophagus and trachea before the spray of hot crimson had swept the image away.

It was straight out of the Old Testament. Ruthless. Evie wondered idly how big of a bowl would have been needed to capture all the blood that had bathed her.

But this ceremony that Levi witnessed hadn't washed Evie clean.

Quite the opposite.

"You were perfect in the moonlight," Levi praised, his voice a rumble as he nuzzled her neck, his eyes closed as if he himself was remembering how she had torn open Frank's. "Such a perfectly delicate balance of kindness and cruelty."

The knowledge of knowing why he was so obsessed was simultaneously calming and unsettling.

"What if I hadn't fought back?" She had to know. Had to understand what the other outcome would have been.

Levi shrugged nonchalantly, "I would have left."

Evie smiled, despite herself. She had known the answer before he had said it. Known that she had unintentionally picked the greater evil, jumping out of the frying pan and headlong into the fire.

She had always been unlucky.

He was warm, though, Evie admitted as she unashamedly snuggled into his chest. She had been so cold for what felt like so long that it was nice to be close to his body heat again. She didn't want to catch a cold and risk not having access to antibiotics.

Levi turned to take them out of her cell, and she reflexively tensed, nervous now at the prospect of leaving the familiar space behind.

Instinctively, she knew where she had woken up last time was where he killed people. There was something ominous about that floor plan and the stainless steel tables in the room.

Evie honestly didn't want to scrutinize it too closely, her imagination was a wild thing and just seeing the instruments he used could push her into a panic.

She had to compartmentalize the scary things little by little or she would lose her shit.

Levi placed a large hand over where hers had clutched at his shirt and squeezed her hands reassuringly, "Hush, we're just going upstairs. It's too cold down here for you."

Evie nodded as form of assent and closed her eyes to shut out the sight of the killing floor, only opening her eyes when she felt them ascending up stairs.

The stairs, comprised of clean lines, hinted at the modern layout of the house above. The floor was compromised of cream and chocolate border tile, while the walls and high ceiling were done in wood that held gray undertones, a modern chic log cabin.

It looked far too expensive a home for Evie to afford. He turned a corner and the kitchen was large and open. A bar was built into the gray marble countertop along one side and there was additional seating at the dining table. The wood of it matched the walls and ceiling, and filling its center was a cutting from the same marble of the kitchen countertops.

The appliances were new stainless steel, and the only thing on the spotless countertops was an old fashioned coffee maker.

She was deposited onto a chair at the table and Levi moved towards the living room. He pulled a blanket off of the couch and unfolded it as he walked back, wrapping it around her and tucking it around her tightly when he returned to her side.

"We're in Alaska, it's colder here than you're probably used to. It doesn't bother me so much anymore, and I've always run a little hot."

Evie balked at the information. He had moved her across the border? How? Either he had moved her to Alaska by sea or he had crossed into Washington, Canada, and then Alaska.

Levi laughed at the surprise on her face, "I know you must think it's difficult, but it really isn't if you know the right people."

Evie nodded slowly and her gaze drifted to a window. The sun was either rising or setting judging by the pinkish orange in the sky. There was a lot of trees, and in the distance a snow covered mountain. She didn't see any houses from her place at the table.

"This is your first time here, yes?" Levi had shifted behind her, his hands resting on her shoulders.

"Yes," Evie replied a little dazed, "I've always wanted to come, so, I guess there's one more thing to cross off the bucket list."

Levi laughed, the same abrupt sound as before and threaded his fingers through her hair, before pushing it over her shoulder, "You are funny."

With one hand braced on her shoulder and the other clasped around the back of her neck, he squeezed, lightly, as if he was making her aware of how easily he could snap her neck. He leaned over, whispering into her ear again, with a hint of a threat, "Who taught you to appreciate such dark humor, Evie?"

She shuddered involuntarily, and didn't know if it was the faux intimacy of the gesture, or from the hint of violence.

"My parents," she whispered back, just as quietly. It felt like a betrayal of not only undeserved trust, but of personal pride. It was like tattling for attention, and Evie had always been fine without it.

"Both?" and Levi was surprised. 

His hands slid from her and he dropped to his haunches beside her, moving her chair to face him.

It was an unusual position for him.

This was the first time he had put himself in a submissive position. If he was trying to make himself less imposing he must have been really curious.

From where Evie sat she could see the top of his gray to silver tipped strands styled so artfully to complete his pristine appearance.

She wanted to ruffle them, to make him not as perfect as he always seemed to be. How could someone look so photogenic all the time? Even when he had been in sweats he had looked perfect.

It was a mask, of this she had no doubt. This was the wolf in sheep's clothing. But underneath there was a creature with blood staining his muzzle and claws. And not just any wolf, but a lone wolf. The outcast and wild card.

Evie acquiesced his subtle request for elaboration. 

"I suppose you're right, usually people have one bad parent, and are sheltered and given affection by the other, but that's not always the case."

Levi wrapped his hands around her cold feet and squeezed, warming them. The gesture was meant to be encouraging, soothing even since she was freezing, so Evie continued, wanting to encourage him to perform these small acts of kindness, even if they were just acts.

Evie couldn't bring herself to meet his probing gaze so she settled on his shoulder, her focal point just behind him, "My father was an abusive drunk who didn't work, and my mother needed someone to love her. She just didn't want my love. I was just there. At best another set of helping hands to help with work and chores, and at worst just another mouth to feed. When you learn your place in life early, even if it's not a good place, you can laugh about it, or you can cry."

Evie smiled, and it was an armor that she was used to putting on, again and again and now was no different, "I have a pretty ugly crying face so I prefer to laugh instead."

Levi's face had turned stoic again, expressionless as he processed what she had said. He was scrutinizing her in his clinically detached way and Evie felt acute discomfort as his dazzling eyes dissected her.

Even if he had asked, or more aptly, demanded in his own way, Evie didn't like to sound like she was looking for pity.

When she thought she had it rough it was easy for her to remember that there was always someone in the world who had it much, much harder. There were children who were born with AIDS and starved to death. People who didn't always have access to clean water. Women who were stoned to death in the streets on grounds of adultery after they had been raped.

In retrospect her problems had been small, insignificant. An inconvenience by comparison.

Levi spoke, and it was that reptilian tone, again. Unfeeling but not with the intent of cruelty, but cruel all the same. Blunt, as rocks crushing skulls.

"Even my mother loved me."

It hurt, for a moment, and then she brushed it off.

"That's probably why you haven't been able to find a boyfriend. You don't know what real love is. You don't know the difference between men when they're faking it to get what they want and when it's genuine."

His words hit her like slap to the face. Sharp. It was logic she hadn't ever considered before. And it fit. The last piece of a puzzle she had been laboring over for years.

Why can't I find someone?

Because you didn't even know what to look for, silly girl.

It rattled her to her core. That even a killer understood humans better than she did. Had a better grasp of what to look for in a significant other.

That even his mother had loved him and better prepared him to be proficient in human relationships than her own who had left her floundering, left to books and movies to decide what society expected of her behavior.

Evie felt tears pinprick her eyes but she took a deep breath, let it out, and focused on the irony instead. It was funny how the world worked sometimes when you removed yourself from the equation and focused on it like bystander.

A man who tortured people was giving love advice to a tortured soul.

What a farce. 

God must have a hell of a sense of humor.

But Evie had learned to laugh a long time ago.

Levi's hands, which had been large enough to enclose her small feet, rubbed circles around her ankles before traveling up her legs, rubbing warmth into the skin that he had tended to, creating heat where the blanket didn't quite reach.

He smiled sinfully again, and his pupils now were definitely dilated with lust, making his glasz colored eyes almost black. His voice had dropped a few timbres and it was darkly suggestive, "Don't worry, Evie, I'll show you what love is."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for reading! I tried to get this chapter out last night but I crashed a little too early.
> 
> A special thank you to everyone who patiently waited. ^_^


	5. Chapter 5

Violent Delights Chapter 5

Evie felt her breathing quicken the same time as her pulse. From this angle, his eyes, even as dilated as they were, were incredibly beautiful. A black hole surrounded by a galaxy. A genetic lottery of steely blue, green, and gold. His jaw was angular and defined, leading down into a strong Adam's apple and broad shoulders. 

He was beautiful and simultaneously masculine. His hair should have made him appear more delicate and feminine, but all it did was make him appear more otherworldly and unapproachable.

Like Lucifer. Beautiful and malevolent.

Until this point, Evie had assumed to some extent that she was just an amusement. Something to pass the time, a toy to take out and pick apart until playtime was over and she was put away.

Before, he had regarded her as more of a curiosity than as what she was on a base level: a woman. Levi had delighted in flirting with her and causing discomfort, but it had been more than teasing, almost as if he was psychotically testing the waters between friend and romantic interest.

Hitherto none of it had carried the unresolved sexual tension that was in the air now, thick enough to suffocate in.

His lips, full and so perfectly arched they should have been set in marble, parted slightly, and Levi stared at her like he wanted a taste and already knew that she would be delicious.

Receiving such a look was what Evie imagined drugs must first feel like. Like you didn't know you could feel so powerfully sated until you were slack jawed with a needle in your arm.

He was a skilled seducer. He was already fluidly adjusting his posture from unassuming to assertive as he gently pulled her legs apart to slide in-between them, as gingerly as a competent dancer guiding and encouraging a novice partner.

As he rose up his encompassing hands did the same, traveling up her calves and under the blanket to caress her thighs and pull her into his bulk.

His confidence was insane. No stumbling, no awkward smiles or laughs. She was leaning in to meet him, following the direction of his light touches before she registered that she was even moving.

She forced herself to still immediately, to really think about his actions and their implications.

Evie had never met a man so confident in his own sexual prowess. His movements were so casual and tender, as if he was trying to lull into compliance a frightened animal.

How many times had he done this?

As violently jarring as Frank had handled her, Levi was on the opposite end of the spectrum. His touches as gentle as they were fleeting.

Outwardly she sensed no violence bubbling within him. He was almost serene, as if filled with purpose.

Calm, yet controlled, hungry, but leisurely so.

The mixed signals were leaving her uncertain of how to react, but she was certain no man had ever looked at her like that, like she was a Goddess and he her avid worshipper.

It was too kind, too gentle a touch for someone who exuded danger. She had never had a partner treat her so very carefully, as if she held a great deal of import.

Evie didn't know how to respond.

Her wrists tried to move apart, to lightly brace herself for his advance, but they remained shackled, unable to part to grab onto his arms, his shoulders, anything as her knees came to rest at his sides from where he had slid between them.

On principle alone she wanted to resist, but Levi wouldn't be easily overpowered. He had seen her violence up close and just because he was coming in for the kill, didn't mean he was necessarily distracted.

If she resisted, it might raise his ire, and now was the time to gain his trust. She needed him to think that she liked him, or that she would obey him at the very least.

And that would require fooling herself to some extent if she was going to make it believable.

She just needed to focus on what she liked about him with tunnel vision.

Evie inhaled, breathing in to center herself, and accidentally breathed him in.

That scent. That damned scent. He smelled so good to her. She breathed in more deeply and minutely she relaxed. On some biological rationale he would be a good mate if he wasn't fucking psychotic.

Evie's eyes flitted along his form and she agreed that if she had been born in the Ice Age he would have been a good mate. Her cave woman brain saying that he was physically capable, strong, and very crafty. If she had children he would be a suitable protector and provider. And if she bore children they would be more likely to survive if their genetics favored his over her own petite frame.

Breaking it down with logic was enough to accept that he was, even if she was loathe to admit it, attractive and physically appealing.

And he was closing in quickly. He was going to kiss her.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Evie closed her eyes when his hand cupped her cheek, and then his lips met hers.

Soft and smooth, he pecked once, twice, and then gently drew her bottom lip between his own with a soft press, testing the plumpness before administering one more chaste joining of lips. He lingered there, before parting, a throaty sound of approval purring from his throat at her submission.

Evie's heart was hammering in her chest as she met his hooded gaze. Was that all? Would he take more than that from her? It felt like a trap. Too good to be true.

"Hush," he commanded, the expression of bliss leaving his face at seeing her wide eyes as he parted from her, "It was only a kiss."

She nodded in understanding and exhaled a shaky breath.

"For now," he amended.

Evie's eyes shot open again and Levi was already laughing and walking away, "You make it so easy."

He opened the door to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water and a Pyrex bowl with something brown inside.

He set the bottle down in front of her and after a warning sidelong glance he returned to the kitchen and set about pulling out a pot and spoon.

Wordlessly, Evie watched him dish out what she was assuming was stew into the pot and fired up the gas stove.

Evie catalogued the gas stove away for future reference. Gas could be a dangerous weapon.

She wasted no time in downing the bottle of water and watched to see if he disapproved of her doing so as she drank it. He ignored the very audible sound it made so she took it as the consent it was.

He didn't seem to be too interested in having her direct attention so Evie took that as leave to take in her surroundings.

His house appeared to be normal, but the miles of wild scenery that lay outside of the window led her to believe that they were somewhere very isolated.

She wished she was able to pinpoint what time it was, or even what day. How long had she been here?

"It's 10' clock PM," Levi helpfully explained, and she turned back to see him observing her, "The sun sets late here."

Evie remembered that daylight in Alaska was different but she didn't think it would be by a two hour difference.

"We'll get something in you and then go to bed."

It sounded dirty, and Evie's mind was usually, albeit playfully enough in the gutter that she understood the double entendre.

He didn't elaborate, but judging by the unkind smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth it was deliberate.

She resisted the urge to frown and instead opted to focus on what he was doing instead of his goading. 

Whatever it was smelled good, and judging by the Pyrex, he had made it himself. It meant that he could have made her the chicken noodle soup as well. The other soup hadn't been poisoned so there was a good probability that this one wasn't either.

Evie was hungry again, and she was in dire need of a toothbrush. She hoped that his predilection for cleanliness meant that she would be obtaining one in the near future.

"Do you have any food allergies?" Levi asked as he poured her meal into a bowl.

"No, not to my knowledge."

"Good, I don't want to hurt you unless you deserve it."

He said it so casually, but the hair on the back of her neck still bristled at the threat.

He smiled sweetly, and brought her the bowl.

She was steeling herself for another humiliating episode of being fed when he took the key out of his pocket and held his other hand out for her to give him her wrists.

Which Evie did quickly, uncaring that she was responding to his nonverbal command as if she was a dog when she saw his approving smile at her promptness to comply.

Let him think what he wanted. Whatever got her shackles off was a welcome trade.

Evie wasn't stupid enough to argue about something so meaningless as his attempt to insult her pride when the outcome meant that she got what she wanted.

His attempts at power play were unwarranted.

Evie knew he was the scarier monster between the two of them. This in itself was a game. He was testing her. He had been since he stepped away from her and moved to the kitchen.

He was waiting to see if she would run.

Fat fucking chance. He was too physically capable of bounding over the counter and catching her with his damned long legs.

Even if she made it outside she doubted she would survive the elements in Levi's underwear.

No, it would be smarter to feign obedience.

Levi picked up the bowl again and with an inclination of his sharp jaw he gestured to the living room for her to follow him.

Curious, she followed him where he sprawled out on the corner of the couch that contained a chaise.

He sat relatively straight, with excellent posture, and left an opening between his legs, which he gestured for her to sit in.

Cuddle time it was, then.

She shucked the blanket off and threw it over both of them after she sat down. The touching was unpleasant, but manageable.

Evie wondered again at his desire to touch her when she felt her ass being pressed flush against his crotch after he pulled her in closer. His body was firm behind her, but the dangly bits of his anatomy were not.

It was intimate without being sexual. 

His legs framed her own, and she could feel the strength in his limbs as the softness of her own curves brushed against his corded limbs.

Her kidnapper sure took their cuddle time seriously.

He handed her the bowl, spoon included, and picked up a book off the couch.

His right arm curled around her and the other propped the book on the armrest. Single handedly he was able to open the book with his long fingers where he had marked it with the receipt and let it fall to the arm of the couch so he could read.

"Carry on," he instructed.

Evie looked at the stew, and back to his book, but it was in Russian so she couldn't decipher it.

She shrugged and took a bite. Beef tips, carrots, bell peppers, and potatoes in a thick mushroom gravy sauce.

It was delicious, and she resisted making a noise of contentment as was her par usual when she put something mouthwatering in her mouth. It wouldn't do to give him ideas.

But of course it would be phenomenal for such a simple dish. Another talent to add to his already perfect person. It irked her.

The tone he had set made it seem like she could take her time, so she did, spending a lot of time memorizing the floor plan as she chewed her food slowly, resentfully enjoying the flavor.

The room had artwork. But most of it was abstract art of colors and scenery. No photographs. Nothing personal.

A glance at his book and the way with which he handled it made her think that somewhere was a study where he kept others. Her eyes drifted to a set of stairs that she hadn't noticed before and she realized that there was another story above them.

It was much warmer up here than in the basement. And Levi's body heat was soothing, as much as she hated having to tolerate it. She wasn't that tired anymore after eating, but the idea of 'bedtime' loomed in her mind.

What did that mean exactly? If his plans involved sex than she should definitely have felt his excitement, particularly since he was pressed so snugly against her ass.

She was finished eating, but was loathe to interrupt him, so she waited.

Not for long, since he was perceptive.

He let go of her to slide the bookmark in place and discard the book on the couch. The bowl was taken from her and his long arms placed it on the coffee table effortlessly.

Free of distractions he used his considerable strength to lift and rotate her body perpendicular to his own in the same position he had put her in downstairs.

His arm came up again to cradle her close and his other right hand offhandedly caressed her left leg under the blanket.

Levi's face was cynical, but his eyes were alight with mischief. In the light the green seemed to overpower the other colors.

"Evie," he started with a pause for dramatic effect, "I am going to give you two choices."

She already did not like where this was going, but if he was giving her choices than it was a test of sorts.

Levi's sharp eyes saw the tightening in her jaw and he grinned wolfishly, continuing, "Do you want the basement, or the bedroom?"

Evie weighed the decision carefully as her eyes drifted back to where the basement stairs were. The basement was safe from further intimacies, she guessed, since its antithesis was the bedroom, but it was fucking cold and scary down there. And it was the place where he undoubtedly dispatched his prey. The darkness was disorienting, and she was scared he would bring someone else down there while she was there.

She needed to remove herself as quickly as possible from his killing grounds. She did not want to be associated with that at all. Her eyes drifted towards the stairs she had spied earlier.

Evie bit the inside of her bottom lip, on the other hand, the bedroom was a big unknown. It could mean sex, but it could also mean a bathroom that he might let her use. There was a chance they would sleep, but there was also a chance he would pin her down and have his wicked way with her.

Evie couldn't exactly explain why, but she felt like he wasn't going to sex her up just yet. The notion was mildly foolish, but he seemed like a perfectionist. 

She hazarded a look back to him, and there was an energy about him, as if he only looked still but was vibrating just beneath the surface. 

No, Evie suspected that when it was going to happen, he wouldn't leave it up to choice. It would be a course of action that she wouldn't have an alternative to.

Of course, he could snap at anytime and even his plans would be subject to change.

If he was planning on having sex with her, it would do little to delay the inevitable.

Evie hated it, but it was undeniable that if she drove him to frustration, and fought him on this, there was a higher chance the sex would be more unpleasant than if she were to follow his lead.

He had already alluded to rewarding good behavior. The opposite went without saying.

Evie didn't want this. She didn't want any of it. But if she had to choose between a violently brutal rape on the moral high ground, and a rape involving less physical trauma she would rather suffer the emotional and psychological aspects of that instead of going for a full trifecta of misery by sustaining physical damage as well.

She wasn't a hero. There would be nothing to gain from fighting the inevitable. She just needed to manipulate the inevitable into an outcome that allowed her some semblance of control.

Levi was waiting for her response, his eyes glittering with predatory anticipation.

"The bedroom." Her voice didn't waver, and she was proud of it.

"моя́ хоро́шая," he exhaled, the possessiveness in his gaze matched by his fingers as they greedily curled around her waist and thigh respectively.

Evie fought the urge to cringe. His reaction did not bode well for her.

"On some level you already know, don't you?" his perfect smile looking a little crazy and a lot wild as he continued, "You're mine. Inside and out you will be mine."

He was starting to hurt her. It was only just a little bit, but the manic look in his eyes needed to be calmed.

"I know," Evie whispered, placing her hand over his heart, pressing enough to feel the rapid staccato of his heart drumming against her fingertips.

Her reaction startled him enough to loosen his grip and ease the frenzied edge from his smile.

Levi stared hard at her, then down to her hand over his heart.

Evie was about to withdraw it when he abruptly covered it with his own, and challenged, "Then, show me."

His eyes went cool, calm as he waited for her response.

Evie blanched, now that she could see just how large his hand was in comparison to her own it was a little intimidating.

But how was she supposed to-

Ah, he wanted her to kiss him.

Evie's gaze dropped to his mouth.

"Levi?"

He regarded her, not moving, "Yes?"

She breathed out, trying to release her nerves, and looked him in his cold eyes, finding her backbone.

"I need to brush my teeth first."

He blinked, and then barked out a laugh.

It was a little angry, and a lot scary sounding, so she elaborated, pressing against his chest a little harder so he would take her seriously, "I don't want to mess up. It has to be perfect. I can't kiss you if I know it will be unpleasant for you."

Evie needed to be perfect with him. She had to be. He obsessively put some level of importance on her and she had to live up to the expectations that were realistically achievable if she stood a chance at staying alive.

There was no way in Hell she could make out without brushing her teeth. That would be disgusting. She made it a point to brush her teeth three times a day. More if kissing was a possibility. She was too self conscious to make it believable if she was cringing all the while at the lack of hygiene.

Levi sobered at her sincerity, the seriousness in her hazel eyes, and squeezed her hand, "I thought it was unusual that you carried a toothbrush and toothpaste in your purse, but, it makes sense now."

He swung his legs off the chaise, pushing the blanket off and taking her with him in a bridal style carry that Evie was soon becoming familiar with.

He brought them up the stairs and with each step her trepidation increased.

Evie needed to focus.

Kissing wouldn't be hard. It was one of her favorite things. At her heart she was a romantic and kissing was very enjoyable for her.

They were almost to the top.

She needed to relax. She needed to kiss him and make him want her.

They were already down the hallway.

Women had been doing this since the dawn of time. She was going to use her wiles and she was going to kiss him. It wasn't love. It was a part that she needed to play. It was a game called survival.

And to be fair, most women didn't have to stomach such activity with men who were as ridiculously handsome as Levi.

They had reached the bedroom.

Granted, his personality was the problem here, and not his devilishly good looks. 

Levi continued onwards, crossing the bedroom quickly with his long strides and then they were at his sink.

He let her slide down to land on her feet before the sink and she spied a flash of purple against his black and white bathroom schematic.

Her toothbrush was already there.

Already in the same cup next to his.

It was a little travel toothbrush so he had opened the lid of it and attached it to the brush to make it full size so it would fit in the cup.

Her eyes looked around for her hairbrush, but something told her it was lurking out of sight, hidden away by his apparent tidiness.

She went to reach for it, and spied his towering form behind her, watching her. Her hand stopped mid reach but continued when he didn't look upset at her for not asking to use it.

Evie wet the bristles, applied her toothpaste, and unashamedly started to brush her teeth. Her mouth felt like a swamp and she wasn't going to waste the opportunity.

Levi moved behind her and she paused, mildly expecting to get hit but he casually reached past her and went for his own toothbrush. There was an unmistakably spiteful smile on his face at her reaction.

He held his hand out expectantly, again, and she placed the toothpaste in his waiting hand and scooted over to allow him access to the sink.

There were two sinks, but Evie suspected that he wanted to share.

He did.

She finished before him, and took the liberty of hoisting herself up to sit on the counter. Levi was tall, and by giving herself the extra height he wouldn't have to stoop over as much.

Levi finished and in a flash he was in her bubble again. Jerking her into his space without warning, he yanked her forward and she crashed into him.

Using his thumb to dig in to the flesh under her jaw, Levi tilted her head back with a forceful hand and malice dancing in his eyes. Evie yelped out a squeak of surprise at the manhandling, and pushed her panic down when she heard her blood starting to rush in her ears.

No, no, no. She needed to redirect. Quickly. She had to bring the ball back into her court.

Evie wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and used the leverage to lift herself up, and simultaneously force him down to meet her.

The landing was rough, but Levi's surprise at her initiative stilled him long enough for her to reconnoiter the kiss into something gentler as she nibbled lightly at his mouth.

Her other hand went to steady herself on his shoulder and she changed position, her hand leaving his neck to slide against the sharp angle of jaw and to push her fingertips into his ridiculous hair.

He let her.

It was a small victory and she made a happy sound in her throat at the success, spurning herself on to gently apply a little tongue against his bottom lip.

He gasped, almost inaudibly, and his lips parted enough to let her lick a bold swipe into his mouth as she pulled him closer, forcing her soft curves into his unyieldingly firm frame.

Evie sucked his bottom lip into her mouth with an audible sigh of pleasure and stroked her fingers against his jaw, caressing lightly where his Adam's apple bobbed in his throat with her thumb.

It was easy to pick up on his cues, and Evie whimpered appropriately when Levi pressed her into him harder in retaliation to her forwardness.

He took over, like Evie knew he eventually would with his domineering personality, and began to thoroughly pillage her mouth as if he had claimed the rights to it long ago.

It was easy to respond to his nonverbal directions. Kissing was easy in that regard for her, since there was nothing to miscommunicate. He led, and she followed. Relationships were hard, but lust was practically instinctive.

Evie relaxed, letting herself mold to him. Other people's emotions had always been difficult for her to understand, but the physical pleasures that they wanted were easy. It was the fear of being tossed aside that had caused her to wait for a patient lover.

And instead, her perseverance had landed her a psychopath.

But, she wasn't entirely innocent. Oral sex was something that she allowed and actively participated in, but she had waited to go all the way with someone that would appreciate her. She wanted to give it as a gift. A thank you to the man who she would eventually grow to love and trust.

Her reluctance to give away her virginity was more a matter of pride than of prudishness. She wasn't waiting for marriage. She just didn't want her first time to make her feel disposable.

She was passionate. And watching an orgasm overtake a man's face was amazing to witness. She enjoyed the heady rush of accomplishment that followed. It felt good to make someone else feel good.

If she had a lover she could trust she would want sex every day. But trust was hard to earn and easy to lose.

None of that mattered now.

Now, all that mattered was keeping herself in Levi's good graces.

She had a suspicion that she was succeeding.

Levi had slid his hand underneath her rump and had hauled her up onto his hips, where she tightened her legs around him to hold on, concerned at the precariousness of her change in balance.

Levi whirled them into a wall and huffed into her mouth as he pulled her wrists above her head and pinned them there.

He nipped her bottom lip and growled, "You little minx."

Evie kept with his brutal pace as he ravaged her mouth, and moaned quietly when his hand squeezed her ass. It felt good, too good to be on the receiving end of such desire, and she choked it off when she realized she was going too far, too fast.

She had only meant to reassure him, not initiate anything more. It had been too long since she'd been kissed.

Her body ran taut with tension and Levi stilled when he felt it.

What was wrong with her?

She had meant to talk herself into making it bearable, believable. And now she was...enjoying it?

"Its natural."

Evie's line of sight, which had gone faraway in thought, zeroed back on Levi's calculating face.

"You're reckless right now because you killed someone. You're coping."

Evie blinked.

She was getting counseled while pinned against a wall. By someone who might have been speaking from personal experience...?

Levi withdrew, letting her slide down the wall.

His voice was pleasantly amused, "Another time."

Evie's brows drew together as she tried to reason Levi's motives behind stopping. It was odd and it didn't make sense.

He chuckled, and ran a hand through her hair, "We have all the time in the world, ма́ленькая моя."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> моя́ хоро́шая = My good girl
> 
> ма́ленькая моя = My little one
> 
> I'm sorry guys, I have had an Upper Respiratory Infection for over a week and it's been kicking my ass. Thanks for your patience!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a long time, guys. Since I last posted I moved out of my old house into a new one and put in my two weeks notice at my current job that I've been at for five years so I could transfer to a different court that I very recently applied to and was accepted at. 
> 
> My grandma, who turns 80 in a few days, has also been giving me some Honey Do lists to complete in my spare time when I'm not running errands for her or chauffeuring her to her doctor's appointments. I've been stretched a little thin as of late so I haven't had as much time to write. She may be old but she is feisty as fuck and wants everything done yesterday if you know what I mean.
> 
> Anyways, I'm going to be trying a little harder to get back into my regular routine. Bear with me guys! 
> 
> Your words of encouragement go a long way and please know that they mean the absolute most to me. Thank you so much to everyone that takes the time to message me.

He patted her head as he swept out of the room, "Come."

Evie followed, trailing behind as he swept across the room. He stopped at the door to close and lock it.

There were multiple locks on the door.

Odd. Now that she was looking at it she noticed it was heavier than most bedroom doors. There was even a lock to secure the door in the floor and at the top of the frame.

The extra security unsettled her. What was he trying to protect himself against? What did monsters fear?

Levi bolted all the locks casually, with a fluidity that could only be attained through practice.

Probably, other monsters, or so she surmised.

He leaned against it after he finished and inclined his chin to the bed, "Go ahead."

Evie made a beeline for the side of the bed that was farthest from the door, just in case, because she wasn't too keen on being the first line of defense.

Levi smiled his one tooth too many smile and cocked his head. "Why did you pick that side?"

She hesitated, but decided for honesty since he probably already knew.

"I'm too small to be a good meat shield."

There was that abrupt chuckle, not as loud as the first, "I'm left handed, otherwise...you would make do."

Evie wondered if he kept weapons on that side of the bed. If he was left handed and slept on the left side it would make sense. He could just reach over and have access.

He gestured for her to get on the bed and she hopped up a little bit to do it.

The bed was massive. It looked even bigger than a California King. Given how tall Levi was, it made sense, but she felt silly with how small of a space she occupied on it.

The four poster bed was modern and comprised of smooth squared black steel rods to form a box frame that nearly touched the ceiling. The headboard was compromised of smaller rows of similar square edged steel rods stacked horizontally.

It seemed as though Levi had already prepared for her inevitable presence in his room. Another set of shackles were here, attached to the headboard.

She expected it. Levi didn't seem stupid enough to trust her while he was sleeping.

At the end of the bed was a leather loveseat and across the room a television had been mounted to the wall.

The room was decorated in dark grays, and blues with dark brown accent pieces. It was artful and masculine, a clear reflection of Levi.

He approached and sat on the bed as if it had been made for him, comfortably, and with the grace his taller height provided.

The movements were measured, slow, and his eyes were raptly trained on Evie, as if he was memorizing her.

Evie's instincts were telling her to shy away from him, but she resolutely kept still, her eyes trained on his gaze as it swept over her form.

They lingered only for a moment on her chest but it was long enough to make her squirm. The attention made her acutely aware of the movement of the material of his shirt over her bare breasts and that she wasn't wearing a bra.

She crossed her arms protectively over herself. Painstakingly, she tried to make the movement as slowly as possible, making it seem believably demure so as not to draw his attention.

Even something as simple as covering herself could potentially be seen as an act of defiance.

True to her instincts he reached out, and moved her arms away. "Don't."

His voice brooked no argument, but the gesture was gentle, making it hurt in a different way; as a reminder that she had been robbed of her control.

"How do you sleep?" He asked, curiosity lacing his tone before he demanded more authoritatively, "Show me."

Evie slept in all different kinds of ways depending on her level of exhaustion. She had always been a light sleeper, but if he was debating on how best to secure her to the bed she would go with the easiest.

She shimmied down and away from the headboard, keeping a healthy expanse of empty bed between them as a buffer, and laid on her back, "I usually just use one pillow, but sometimes I prop one under my knees. Sometimes I sleep on my stomach and sometimes on my side. When I sleep on my side I have a long pillow I wrap my arms and legs around."

He stretched out into a sprawl, using his right arm to prop up his head as he stared down at her, voice alight with spite as he smiled, "Lonely people often use pillows to substitute partners to help them sleep."

Irritation flared through her, tightening her jaw.

Levi laughed immediately and unkindly, even going as far as to toss his head back with the force of it to erase any doubt about whether or not he was mocking her.

Indignant, she wanted to argue. She wasn't weak. She didn't need a pile of pillows to sleep.

Levi reached out, effortlessly dragging Evie by her waist to pull her closer to him, "You won't need a nest of pillows anymore, ма́ленькая моя. You have me to wrap yourself around, now."

Evie flushed in distaste as he threw her words back in her face, mortification twisting her visage at how precariously she had set it up for him.

Levi buried her sour expression into his expansive chest and wrapped his arms around her, squeezing lightly before slackening, "That will come later, when I won't have to worry about you killing me in my sleep."

Stilling under his hands, the thrum of his heart against her forehead seemed impossibly loud as her other senses became narrowed down to focus on him.

Part of her was pleased that he knew she was a threat to him. There was a mutual respect in him acknowledging that.

The other part lamented that she wasn't being underestimated. It would make everything harder. She would have taken his carelessness over the ego stroking.

Levi's fingers traced her sides, "The true man wants two things: danger and play. For that reason he wants woman, as the most dangerous plaything."

Nietzsche. He would be a fan.

"How romantic," the sarcastic retort was out of her mouth and muffled against his clothes before she could process that she said it aloud.

She thought for a moment that he hadn't heard it but when he pinned her to the bed, capturing both her wrists above her head with one hand she realized her error.

Had she offended him?

His body blanketed her, his knee sliding between her own as he pressed his full weight atop of her, molding himself against her curves.

Levi's eyes danced as he smiled menacingly down at her as he grabbed her jaw, fingers digging in for emphasis, "Be careful, Evie, because your smart little mouth often runs away from you."

Yes, she undoubtedly had offended him.

His other hand squeezed her wrists angrily and Evie's pulse fluttered in her throat as she waited for further reprimand.

Levi's eyes were drawn to the movement, his voice low and even as he watched, his hip bones starting to dig into her thighs, "I don't know if I love it or hate it."

Evie was attempting damage control, but was coming up blank as he pressed on, his voice tight, "Do you have any idea what you do to me?"

She blinked, slowly and dumbly as she processed the phrase. Her first thought was that she was pissing him off, but his blown pupils and the ever so slight shift of his hips against her spoke otherwise. 

He was serious about what he said. She was dangerous, ergo, playing with her excited him. Perhaps to Levi this was as romantic as he could get.

Her eyebrows raised up, her lips parting just enough to make an "oh" of silent understanding.

It was strange to hear out loud that she affected him sexually in such a way that didn't involve her anatomy. Men didn't often wax poetics to her, and compliments had never felt genuine when she knew her past consorts were more interested in the act itself than of her as a partner.

Her apparent naïveté, made obvious by her expressions lessened some of the tension in his body, causing him to cant his hips so they were no longer leaving their impressions on her thighs.

"If you keep testing my patience I will put your mouth to better uses," his grip slackened and his thumb brushed over her bottom lip as he shuddered, his eyes seeing past her and into his own insinuations.

Evie swallowed down her nervousness audibly. His direct innuendo scared her. His tone didn't merely hint at sex and violence so much as it implicitly promised it.

Levi's eyes, pupils still blown, flicked back to linger at the movement of her swallowing. His breath caught in his throat and his jaw tightened as he shoved himself off of her.

Interesting.

He was controlling himself.

Evie didn't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out what he was thinking about.

It was interesting that he didn't act on it when he so easily could. Was he honestly trying to establish some sort of fucked up relationship between them?

Evie forced herself to reach out, to reward this interesting turn of events.

Her hand reached out, hesitantly, and then with assurance to lightly touch his hand as she turned herself towards him, mirroring the way he laid on his side to face her.

He had already withdrawn into himself, that stoic expression had returned, and his eyes were cold and steely as he stared blankly at her. His mouth only a hair's breadth from a frown as he regarded her as a snake might regard a mouse.

Evie knew enough about disappointment to recognize it in someone else. She could read the anger and frustration that tightened the line of his body even though he kept his face malignantly impassive.

"I've never been good at taking compliments, I'm sorry," she apologized, her voice easy from how natural it felt to empathize.

Levi's eyes drifted to her glasses, crooked from her face pressing into the mattress and then down the line of her arm to where her small hand lay featherlight against his much larger one.

"Do you like danger, too, моя́ хоро́шая?" Levi turned his palm to hold her hand, his fingers enveloping it easily as he pulled her hand to him so he could kiss the tip of her hand, "Is this why you respond to me so perfectly? Why you respond to my cruelty with kindness? Why you reach out when you should be shying from my touch?"

Evie hesitated. He was trying to pull information out of her and was craftily questioning the motives behind her seeming complacency. She had to find an honest answer that he could accept. 

She squeezed his hand and spoke plainly, "I just didn't mean to offend you. It wasn't my intention. I can't just sit here knowing I was wrong without making up for it."

Levi laughed darkly, "I can think of a few ways."

He smiled, and it was devilish, "We will discuss them tomorrow."

Her face tightened immediately, she didn't like surprises.

Levi chuckled at her sour expression and rolled out of bed with an easy twist, his easy limber strength reminded Evie of a cat.

A big, dangerous cat. One that she would rather view safely from a distance.

His hand started to grip the edge of his shirt, presumably to undress when he stilled.

Eyes suddenly alight with impishness he beckoned her with his chin and pointed to the spot of bed in front of him for emphasis, "Come here."

His tone sounded strangely playful.

Her pulse started to beat faster.

What was he up to?

She had to, so she pushed herself off of the bed and crawled across the expanse. If it were her own bed she would have stood and walked across it since it was so big. The notion was quickly dismissed. No doubt Levi wouldn't tolerate anything that allowed her to tower over him.

Red tinged her cheeks from the way he watched her, eyes tracing over her frame as she came to him. There was a simmering heat to his gaze. Warm enough to acknowledge attraction, but cool enough of an analysis that she would liken it to the way a jockey would admire the way a horse moved.

Evie kneeled, resting on her folded legs and looked up to him for further instruction. Even with the elevated bed he was still taller than her.

The corner of his mouth lifted challengingly as he stepped close enough to graze against her hands that were folded on top of her knees, "Undress me."

Fuuuck.

He was scary with his clothes on. Surely, taking them off would make him more menacing. More of a threat. Most people were less scary when you stripped them down, but Evie was certain this would be quite the opposite for her captor.

It was one thing to assume he was built like a brick shithouse, but quite another to be forced to stare at the cold, hard facts.

Would he sleep nude? He definitely seemed like the type. What did that mean for her?

Her eyes skimmed down his body and worked the logistics of his demand.

Shakily she moved up, her fingers twitching as she gripped the edge of his shirt and lifted it, skimming along his firm sides.

Inch by inch his body was exposed, leaving an expanse of smooth unblemished skin painted over muscle. He wasn't excessively muscular with lines cut too deeply in his skin to look natural, but he definitely had a regular workout routine.

A lot of time had been dedicated to keep his body in this kind of shape.

There was a light amount of hair on his forearms, but his chest was smooth and hairless. He took good care of his body so it was likely that he was vain enough to shave or wax his chest as he saw fit.

Nonchalantly he raised his arms, but his spectacular abdominals tensed when his shirt obstructed his view.

A tiger ready to pounce.

The material of his shirt pulled over the bulge of his biceps as she freed him from the sleeves.

Evie wondered how easy it would be for him to break her neck; at how easily he could cut off her air supply with the crook of his elbow alone.

Stretching up she pulled his shirt off and was met with his electric gaze.

For a moment she forgot herself and found herself really looking at him, matching his stare. It was disorienting how often he looked into her eyes.

What was he searching for in them?

His hair, finally mussed, caused Levi to flip it out of his face. He did so without breaking eye contact. 

Evie had paused, shirt still in hand in case he had a predilection for where it was to go. Their staring contest ended when he silently instructed her to his jeans with a purposeful glance.

The shirt slipped from her fingers to the floor and her eyes trailed down his impressive chest to eye the fastening of his jeans. She wasn't graceful or practiced enough to remove them without looking so she didn't bother.

Carefully, she unbuttoned them, trying her damnedest to keep her hands to herself. His skin was warm and she could feel the hair that led down past the band of his underwear from how low his jeans hung on his hips.

She breathed in, fortifying herself, and focused on his zipper. Delicately, she was able to catch her nail on the tip of it and flick it up so she could grasp it with the least amount of hands on application.

His zipper was so much bigger than her own. Were all men's zippers so big? Ah, yes. Their fingers were bigger, so they had to be larger to be more easily grasped. It made sense.

The distraction calmed her and she continued smoothly, focusing on the sound the teeth made as they were separated.

Unzipped, she avoided his gaze that she felt as acutely as the heat of a spotlight and focused on hooking her middle finger into the space between his jeans and his boxer briefs.

She was trying to widen his pants so that she could shimmy them off without dragging his underwear down as well.

Evie's brow furrowed when his jeans caught against his ass. She slid her hands back, circling her short reach around him and ended up with her nose pressing against him.

She tried to stop breathing as she worked, but eventually had to breathe in again. The familiar scent of him assaulted her senses, only this time she was close enough to get a hint of how the salt of his skin would taste.

It was heady coming straight from the source.

She breathed out, and the warmth of it ghosted out across his perfect skin. Her hazel eyes were close enough to see goosebumps raise across his flesh in response.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Panicking, she sucked another lungful of Levi in again and cursed herself for liking it.

Evie gritted her teeth and shoved his jeans over the swell of his ass and down his muscled thighs where the fabric made a soft thud against the floor.

It was a stupid thing to do. 

And she knew it. 

Knew that the subtle hostility would provoke him.

She needed the violence he was going to give her. She needed the sense knocked into her head. She needed to be reminded that she was playing with the Devil.

She looked up and was waiting for the blow to answer her disobedience when she realized there would be none.

Levi was leering a smile down at her that said he knew exactly why she had provoked him.

The affront to her morality hurt more than a slap. Knowing that he knew there was an attraction between them, no matter how slight, that she couldn't deny.

There was victory glittering in his beautifully malevolent face as he towered confidently over her.

"Oh, Evie. Sweet, sweet Evie," he purred, "I am going to _ruin_ you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ма́ленькая моя - my little one
> 
> моя́ хоро́шая – my good (girl)


	7. Chapter 7

Evie's brain stuttered. There were too many implications in what he promised, and she was understanding enough about his behavior to know it was intentional.

He enjoyed this. It was becoming a game.

Levi enjoyed unbalancing her and watching her struggle to right herself.

He was resisting a laugh as he leaned in, his arms reaching out to cage her as his stance became more aggressive.

Evie was falling backwards to avoid him before she registered she was instinctively trying to escape him. His eyes were intent and fiery, too focused with an unknown purpose and that in itself was alarming. Her legs kicked out so her bare feet could find purchase on the bed to propel herself backwards.

Levi was already giving chase, stepping out of his fallen jeans easily to climb onto the bed as his large form crawled over her, his face a mixture of manic excitement and satisfaction.

His incomplete nudity coupled with the predatory bunching of his muscles as he gave chase screamed danger in Evie's mind as loud as klaxon.

It caused her breathing to increase exponentially and her panic to skyrocket as she tried futilely to scramble away.

Toying with her, Levi let her get to the edge of her side of the bed before he latched onto her hips. His large hands found the bone of her pelvis adeptly and gripped it hard enough to make her panicked mind still before he hauled her back underneath him.

From this position she could feel the heat from where his body touched her, could feel the tension in his frame telling her he was poised to strike. She could feel how easily he could break her with just his bare hands.

He pinned her down by pressing his weight on her thighs and spoke, his voice a few octaves lower as he watched her heaving chest, "I bet you'll try to squirm away just like this when I fuck you."

What?

_What the fuck did that mean?_

Evie felt her mouth go dry and the blood drain from her face.

Levi chuckled at her response.

Levi's hands encompassed her hips, his fingers grazing the outline of her ass possessively, "I have a lot of stamina. I'm betting I can wring out three orgasms from you before I finish."

Evie wasn't quite sure if she heard him correctly when he helpfully continued. 

"You're a virgin, so, I'm certain when I'm balls deep inside you you'll try and squirm away just like you're doing now," Levi explained as his hand slowly came up, brushing her bangs from her face with an out of place tenderness, "But you won't be able to escape, Evie. You'll thank me after I pin you down and fuck you through the overstimulation."

A fine tremble overtook her as adrenaline flooded her system. 

Evie stopped breathing. Stopped thinking. Her eyes were wide. Waiting. She was terrified and confused.

And just a tiny bit turned on, she realized as heat uncoiled low in her belly, causing her blood to pulse and pang in her core. Already she felt her body betraying her, the familiar dampness between her legs as her body mistook her reactions for impending sex.

And now she was scaring herself.

Her blood started crashing in her ears, pulse loud enough that it was the only thing she could hear after Levi's sordid promise of what was to come.

"Relax."

The command broke her delirium.

She blinked and Levi was staring down at her, face impassive once more as he collected her hands in his own, threading his fingers through hers as he gripped her palm so he could pull her upright.

"You are not ready, not yet, ма́ленькая моя," Levi promised, kissing her forehead.

Shell shocked, Evie only blinked at him, and was compliant as his right arm gathered her against him, his left still squeezing her right hand as he stretched it out.

It felt like he had frightened the ability to fight out of her. She didn't want to provoke him and withdrawing from the situation felt safe.

He laid her down properly onto the pillows, and still dazed, she didn't fight him when he attached and locked the shackle around her right wrist, securing her to the bed.

It was only when he withdrew his body heat from her that she snapped to her senses.

Numbly she realized he was trying to tuck them into bed. 

Wordlessly, she lifted her body up to help him pull the blankets out from under her.

He slid in between the covers alongside her, and reached over to a remote on his night table she had previously ignored.

It controlled the lights and automated curtains that blocked out the still bright Alaskan sunset, and abruptly they were cast into darkness, disorienting her.

She held the chain in her hand, squeezed the cold steel in her fingers and sighed as it grounded her. She hated feeling trapped but it cut out a lot of worrying when she had to focus on fewer things.

Being bound made it easier to submit. Easier to rule out all the other possible choices and outcomes when she could only worry about the few it permitted her to accomplish.

Levi moved closer, repositioning her to little spoon status, and firmly tucked her into his warmth. The sensation was not wholly unwelcome in the chilly air. He adjusted her pillow to fit around his folded arm and she could feel the combination of both cushioning her head.

His hand came up to up her face and she stilled beneath him as he found her glasses and delicately removed them.

She felt him lean back and use his impressive reach to set them on his nightstand and heard the sound of them being placed down gently.

Evie exhaled in relief. She only had the one pair and she was happy that Levi was treating it like the breakable object it was.

He returned, gathering her copious strands of hair and smoothing them out of the way. After he had managed her hair out of his face his left hand took hold of her hip to tuck her back in to his body.

Levi was surprisingly less scary in the dark. It almost felt normal. She was able to start breathing again.

He scooted up, and it was then that she felt him press his dick, which she felt distinctly through the thin material of the two sets of underwear, flush against her ass.

He wasn't even hard and there was a lot of surface area pressed against her.

She hadn't noticed it earlier, as she was focusing on the threat of his entire body instead of just one part of it but now Evie didn't understand how she had missed it.

"You have a lovely ass," Levi praised, before settling on a handful of breast with a light squeeze, eliciting a surprised squeak from her, "Your breasts are nice but I prefer your ass. I will enjoy cozying up against it as I dream of fucking you."

Nope. She was clearly mistaken. He was just as scary in the dark.

Evie cringed, and Levi must have felt it because he chuckled darkly in her ear, kissing the delicate skin behind it, and repositioned his hand to under her breasts. 

Albeit, he did so after he moved his hand up her shirt, apparently preferring skin on skin contact to the feeling of cotton.

Levi made adjustments, took a deep breath in, then out, and settled down to sleep.

Evie waited, and very carefully made her own adjustments. Her feet were cold so she pressed them together and drug a pillow closer to cover her exposed and shackled hand so it would trap her body heat and warm the steel links.

Worry caused her to wring her hands.

Levi was now so much more intimidating. How badly would he hurt her? The picture he painted of their future bedroom activities was fucking scary when she thought of his scarily proportional body impaling her.

Anxiety thrummed through her. She wasn't quite sure if she could calm herself enough through sex with him to conduct herself in a manner conducive to her survival.

Perhaps she needed to panic. Maybe that was exactly what he wanted. It was hard to not grab her delicate bits protectively as dread filled her.

What if he inadvertently killed her? He could very easily hurt her in the throes of passion. His strength and emotional instability did not a good mix, make.

She clasped her hands under the downy soft pillows and after a moments hesitation she prayed.

Evie couldn't remember the last time she had thought of her night time childhood prayer. She had only whispered it to herself when she was scared to sleep. The times when she had barricaded her bedroom door at night so she could hear if someone came in so she would have time to defend herself, or at least try to. She had only chanted it when she was afraid she wouldn't wake up. It was her goodbye. It settled her. It had put her at peace.

Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. 

Evie had always ended it: And God bless everyone in the whole wide world, Amen.

When she was younger, and kinder, she thought everyone deserved her prayers. It felt selfish to exclude some. It had made her feel guilty.

Now she was old enough to know that some people didn't deserve blessings. They didn't even deserve a second thought.

Would she even be a second thought? Her thoughts drifted to her parents and she dismissed them immediately. She had cut her ties with them long ago.

Her new coworkers? She was still too new to have developed anything substantial with them, having only met them a few months prior. 

Her friends? Most of them had their own families, and if not those than successful careers that satisfied them enough to provide a similar happiness.

Distance had killed what time could not. Months would pass in between the times she saw their faces.

She wasn't bitter, although she was a little envious. Everyone seemed to have a strong calling, a direction that their inner compass held true to.

Evie had always felt adrift, disconnected. An outsider looking in, trying to mimic healthy behaviors that she had learned, quite frankly, too late in life.

A career had never been interesting enough to provide her happiness. What good could the best job in the world be if she came home alone to an empty house? Rising to the top of a corporate ladder couldn't make a house a home.

She was alone.

It hurt. Knowing that she might die without ever attaining the family she so desperately desired.

Her eyes were hot, and she steeled herself to force the tears away. Now was not the time.

Behind her, Levi was quiet, but she knew he wasn't going to sleep until he heard her slip off into unconsciousness.

Levi.

What was he going to do with her?

Besides, of course, what he had already outlined, in descriptive and worrisome detail?

Fuck. She was so fucked.

Or would be, at least three times for sure since he had already decreed it as a fucking challenge.

Ugh.

Sex was at least the lesser evil here.

At least if he associated her with sex there was less of a chance he would intentionally damage her beyond repair.

She just had to make sure it was good enough that he didn't feel the need to "spice up" the activities. If she was actively participating then he might not look for ways to elicit reactions from her.

His bedroom wasn't set up to look like a sex dungeon but Levi didn't need adult oriented furniture and accessories to put fear in her. He was quite capable of using just his body to make her submit.

The last thing she wanted was him choking her with his frighteningly large hands backed with the strength of his ridiculous biceps.

Fuck that. Fuck that right up the ass.

He just might, Evie. He just might.

Evie blanched, and tried to think of happy thoughts, but instead her thoughts drifted back to what Levi had mentioned earlier...

Something about how she would be making up for the slight against him come the morrow.

It was a terrible thing to dwell on before bed, especially with the girth of him pressed intimately in the cleft of her ass.

Easy. Calm down.

Pretend. Pretend you're dreaming.

Evie squeezed her eyes shut and imagined someone else. Anyone else. This wasn't her life. It was someone else's.

She wasn't being held captive by an equally attractive as he was dangerous psychopath with a torture room in his basement.

Except, it was her life. And this was another day in her shitty and unlucky life.

Evie needed to fall asleep quickly. Levi might get aggravated if he had to wait too long for her to drift off.

They were just going to sleep. It was just sleep. She could do that. How could they piss each other off while unconscious?

Right?

Right. It would be a wasted opportunity if he killed the object of his obsession before fucking her.

She would be fine until the morning. All she had to do was not move for fifteen minutes. Eventually her body would succumb to slumber.

Evie had always been a light sleeper, but falling asleep had never been a problem. It felt good to check out.

With her eyes closed, her breathing gradually evened out.

She focused on the darkness.

In the basement it had felt stifling, but snuggled into Levi's bed it felt comfortable. The mattress was perfect, memory foam like her own bed. And even though the bedding smelled strongly of Levi, the blankets felt clean.

Even Levi's furnace-like body heat, pressed invasively against her, was preferable to the cold void downstairs.

When was the last time she had slept next to someone?

Daniel? Evie yawned. Over a year ago.

It had been hard to start sleeping alone again after they had broke up. He had cheated on her with his ex and that had been that.

He had worn some fancy expensive cologne that smelled good.

Evie brow furrowed, feeling the tug of sleep peripherally, there was a nagging thought trying to surface, keeping her awake.

Levi smelled better.

 

****************************

 

Evie awoke immediately. Nothing felt wrong, but all at once sleep had abandoned her.

She blinked and took stock of her surroundings. Her pillow covering her hands as well as the chain around her wrist had been removed. Abandoned, the shackle laid on the pillow next to her freed wrist as a subtle reminder that it would be used again.

Levi had to be close by.

Her hazel eyes flicked around her and she strained her ears.

Ah. He was behind her. Making oddly rhythmic shuffling motions.

Looking over her shoulder there was only the bed.

What was he doing on the floor?

Probably sliding under the bed to return to his true home.

Evie shimmied to the edge of the bed and peeked over.

Push ups.

With his perfect body she should have known. Annoyed by her own ignorance she rolled her eyes, but flicked them back alertly when she saw something she hadn't noticed before.

A tattoo.

Between his shoulders there was a tattoo of a menacing black wolf. It was framed by two sets of pale arms that seemed to be holding it back. Around it were three words she didn't understand. They might have been in Russian but she wasn't sure.

Interesting. She wondered what it said.

"Do you like what you see?" Levi drawled, not sparing a glance in her direction as he smoothly continued without pause, not breaking his perfect form.

Shit.

Now prompted, her eyes involuntarily traced Levi's back, taking in the sleek muscle definition and the impressive breadth of his shoulders and the sheen of sweat that glistened too perfectly on his skin.

Even his skin was perf-

No. If she strained her eyes in the dim light she could see there were scars. Little marks of light glossy scar tissue against the natural matte finish of smooth skin.

Mismatching lines that varied between an inch and an inch and a half long.

Someone had stabbed him. At least twelve times. The wounds were on his back so they could have been defensive...or purposefully inflicted.

Had he been tortured? Was it a abuse? Evie wished she could tell how old they were. 

"Are you comparing my battle scars with your own?" Levi teased, with a warning edge to his voice, "So manly."

Shit. He was sensitive about them. 

He took a great deal of care with his body so it was logical the imperfections would irk him. 

Aiming to stroke his ego, and to reaffirm that his scars made him look way more badass than her own did, she asked, "Did you kill them?"

Levi paused, his body hovering like he was intentionally doing a plank, before he turned to look at her.

Glare would have been a better word to describe the tension hardening his jaw. There was murder in his eyes. A rabid hostility that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up and goose flesh to ripple across her skin.

Fuck. She had found his switch. In case she ever needed a short drop and a sudden stop she had found the trigger to get her there.

"Not yet," he said in a way that told her he had thought about it in detail, "Not yet."

Evie had been wrong.

She had overestimated his vanity. The physical imperfections didn't bother him. It was the reminder that someone had hurt him. That someone had been strong enough to leave their mark on his body.

It was a reminder of failure.

She had hit too raw of a nerve. Evie needed to soothe the anger she had unintentionally stirred.

Her left hand reached out, and her eyes caught sight of one of her own scars.

Evie had received this scar in much the same way.

By reaching out to a wounded and abused animal.

Beaux.

Evie was eleven again. Crawling underneath a stranger's trailer home, the red Texas clay pebbled with rocks was digging into her knees as she sought out what should have been too much trouble.

She had heard the dogfight while she was wandering around her backwoods neighborhood and had run towards the sounds of violence with childlike curiosity and excitement.

Evie had come onto the scene just in time to see that a neighbor's dog had caught a stray by the throat and had ripped it open.

It was disgusting. The skin had been pulled open like a macabre door, exposing the pink muscle and sinew underneath.

The way it had flapped in the wind as it had run away was like a white flag of defeat. An omen of death. 

Evie's eyes, widened by terror had watched it run through the woods before disappearing underneath the trailer.

She had known enough about animals to know that once wounded, animals would find a quiet place to die. 

It was going to die down there. Alone.

Evie had known that fear by eleven years old, had wondered if her death would be similar. It spurned her towards the dog with the dark coat. Her hands needed to hold it, needed to touch its brown fur that reminded her of her own brown hair.

Reaching for it had been stupid. It had growled while her voice had tried to calm it. It had snapped her hand in its teeth when she tried to soothe his raised hackles.

When it heard her start to cry in frustration the growling had stopped. 

After the sun went down and she started to sob from helplessness it whined and came to her. Laying its bloody head in her outstretched hand it licked her arm before inching closer and pressing his haggard body to her own.

In the blood and tears, and the summer stench of sweat and abuse, she pressed her face to his fur and had found her first friend.

Beaux had lived. Evie had been too poor to take him to a vet but the damage hadn't been as deadly as she had thought.

She had peeled the skin flap as large as her hand back to clean it with tears in her eyes and prayers on her tongue.

Daily she disinfected the wound and wrapped bandages around it until the skin had healed, eventually grafting back together to close.

Evie didn't think she could heal Levi like she had healed Beaux.

Humans were difficult.

Evie looked away from the scar Beaux's canines had left behind. It was her favorite.

Turning to look back at the splattering of scar tissue on Levi, Evie's empathy flared.

She also carried scars that she hated.

Under her left hand, on the inside of her arm was a scar from a whiskey bottle that had been shattered on her elbow.

The thin jagged lines from the glass slicing open her skin were thinner as they reached towards her wrist, but at her elbow there had been a spattering of dots where stitches had kept the skin together.

She had been young enough to heal the muscular damage well, and when she was older she had spent money on making the scar tissue fade as best she could.

Evie knew what it was like to hate the visible damage someone had left on your body. She had felt weak every time she spied it in the mirror. Had felt shame burn in her gut every time someone asked about it.

There weren't any words good enough to make that kind of pain feel less.

It wasn't a good idea, but it was the only one Evie had.

She looked to him for askance.

Levi was watching her. He had lowered himself to the floor to watch her deliberate, and was eyeballing her outstretched arm as if he was debating on breaking it off and beating her with it.

It wouldn't do her any good to ask.

She needed to go big or go home.

Even if it was in a body bag.

Determined to avoid his face, since she didn't want to see the punishment coming before she felt it, Evie kept her movements slow so he could easily stop her.

Her left hand, the one she sacrificed the most since it was her non dominant hand, made contact gently.

Her fingertips met his warm skin and she wondered when that would stop being odd? When her mind would wrap around the fact that he felt warm instead of cold.

The first time she held a snake had been a similar experience. That something so seemingly cold and intimidating could feel warm had startled her. She had been dumbfounded when she felt it breathe, and had felt silly because of course it breathed. In her hands it had felt delicate, like _it_ should have been scared of _her_.

Levi wasn't a snake hatchling.

He was a killer.

But still. Warmth. He was tense of course, but his body heat was inviting.

His scars, at least this one, felt like her own. Evie's fingers drifted over to the next one to compare, and found it the same.

Scar tissue was delicate and she could feel the difference acutely. The smooth friction of healthy skin and the deeper give and glide of the softer scar tissue were tactilely very different: matte texture versus gloss.

Evie pressed her hand down instead of using her finger and petted him open handedly so she could feel his back like braille, "I know what this is like, but I've never felt it on someone else's skin."

Levi inhaled sharply and the movement jarred her out of her analysis with a flinch.

Her eyes closed for the hit and opened to see his handsome face up close and personal, features still intense but now with curiosity instead of anger, "What does it feel like to you?"

"The same," she confessed, tallying it up with their growing list of similarities.

Levi exhaled audibly, and it was the only thing that gave away that she had answered the question on a deeper level for him. That she had assuaged some unknown dilemma that only his troubled mind had been privy to.

Evie was beginning to realize that he hadn't been asking about texture.

He closed his eyes, and his face loosened in relief. It was shocking to see the vulnerability there. The strangely delicate way his long dark lashes fanned down to contrast his pale skin.

Levi opened his eyes again, and only a few inches away, she couldn't resist the magnetic pull of them. In the scant morning light they seemed to shine more clearly, with blue overtaking the usual hard gray.

The relief faded away to his usual stoic mask, and she could tell he was thinking about her. His bright eyes were now looking through her instead of at her, taking her words and actions apart and cataloging them for future exploitation.

When he kissed her cheek, Evie thought of Beaux again. Of how they too, had bonded over mutual damages.

Adrift in the parallels, she could smell the blood that had laced the air, hers included. Her left hand twitched at the memory, reflexively expecting the pain from snapped jaws. 

Evie wondered what kind of scar Levi would leave behind. If it would be one she kept or one that she tried to erase.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone has a great Fourth of July! Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys for the late update! Please forgive me! I was trying to update once a week but my schedule isn't allowing me as much spare time since my move and new job!

Violent Delights Chapter 8

Levi stood abruptly, the muscles of his body rippling as he completed the motion.

It was distracting, and annoying as it was fascinating. The problem was that the movement drew her attention, and to see how muscle tissue moved from a clinical perspective was biologically fascinating, but not as sexually appealing as Levi mistook her attentions for.

"Come," Levi demanded with a cocky smile, hand outstretched.

Evie slid her hand into his, and he pulled her from the bed with an unnecessary forcefulness that was becoming familiar.

The momentum and the awkward dismount caused him to pull her down and into a spin that landed her on her feet.

With his hand encompassing her wrist he hurriedly pulled her into the bathroom and with a shove, closed the door behind her with further instruction, "Two minutes."

She didn't understand until her eyes fell on the toilet and she skittered over to it quickly to relieve herself.

As much as Evie hated feeling like a child with her assigned bathroom breaks she was thankful that he wasn't looming over her while she took them.

Levi came in when she turned on the faucet to wash her hands, carrying enough clothes that she suspected some were for her.

He dropped them on the counter and stalked to the tub, turning on the water and dumping some bath salts into the tub before turning back around to sit on the edge, his mouth falling into a devious grin as he watched her face for reactions.

It was an incredibly large tub. The biggest she had seen in real life. Big enough that even Levi could lounge comfortably submerged in water up to his chest. There were jets along the side built into the white marble design. 

"Do you remember what we discussed last night?"

Evie didn't know if it was better or worse that her supposed comeuppance was taking place first thing in the morning.

"Yes," she started to trail off, eying the tub warily and then respectfully tacking on, "Sir."

Levi chuckled at her response and gestured to the tub, "We will bathe together."

Discomfort churned as sour as goat milk on a hot summer's day in the back of her mind.

Stripping down in front of someone who felt no obligation to be kind and supportive seemed as bad as an idea as posting nudes titled #RoastMe on Reddit.

Evie's eyes danced over the dips and divots in Levi's perfectly muscled body and groaned internally.

His body was too close to perfection for her to ever feel comfortable baring her own in the harsh light of day.

She hated this. Hated how he delighted in tearing down her walls and her pride.

The sound of the water filling the tub seemed to grow louder as she surveyed how bright and unforgiving the fluorescents were in the bathroom. The liquid seemed to crash and echo in the silence like a waterfall in a cavern.

Reflexively, her eyes darted longingly to the door. Towards escape. She wanted to run. Even if it was foolish and her likelihood of survival was statically abysmal, she wanted to. Wanted it like burning.

Evie wasn't sure if she was going to act upon it, as it seemed more like wishful thinking than a course of action, but Levi didn't seem to be keen on waiting to find out.

He was on her so quickly that she didn't see him coming. 

The sight of his expansive chest suddenly filled her vision and before she could register the attack for what it was Levi was grabbing her hands and spinning her until her back was to his front.

She didn't immediately register Levi's hand wrapping harshly around the back of her neck until he was shoving her down with a furious growl.

There was a slow moment where her wide eyes captured the surprise in her face that the mirror reflected, her eyebrows raising in alarm; and then she was getting a face full of the black marble of the bathroom counter; her splayed hands on either side of her face preventing the landing from breaking her nose.

Shock had stiffened her body, but when her glasses started to make alarming noises from the abuse she angled her face to prevent them from disrepair and forced her body to go limp.

_Don't fight. Don't fight. Relax._

Levi had pinned her so completely that even relaxing her legs felt necessary with his bulk grinding her into the edge of the counter.

Evie squeezed her eyes shut and waited, willing her breathing to even out as it escaped her lungs in panicked bursts from under the force of Levi's forearm as it pressed into her back, unforgiving like iron.

"You must like my hands," Levi ground out between clenched teeth, breath hot on her ear, "Since you keep forcing them."

His grip on her neck squeezed dangerously and Evie whimpered. At first it was to appease him, but it devolved into something more real as he pressed harder.

Surprisingly, it was anger that curled low in her gut as his fingers imprinted her neck, turning her fear into frustration at how severe the punishment was for something so innocuous as a glance in the wrong direction. She had been mortified at his proposal, not openly rebellious. There wasn't a snowball's chance in Hell she would ever willingly strip down so that anyone could ogle all of her physical imperfections.

_I just_ looked. _You fucking psycho._

He had given her enough warning to make it a choice. She wished he hadn't.

Evie clenched her jaw and sighed, sounding exasperated, "It's less embarrassing this way, at least."

Levi stilled behind her, "What...are you prattling about?"

Ah, he thought she had actively been trying to escape _him_ instead of just the embarrassment of her jiggly naked body being laid bare to the stark contrast of his picture perfect physique.

Evie briefly contemplated what it must be like to have such confidence in one's body that you assume other people have the same amount of comfort in their own skin, even when sex isn't on the table.

"In case you haven't noticed," Evie explained, her mouth moving against the counter awkwardly, parting her lips in a very unflattering way to expose her gums, "I'm not exactly Aphrodite to your Greek Adonis."

Slowly, as if he was processing, his grip slackened to something resembling control instead of outright hostility.

His thighs, which had been actively trying to crack her pelvis against his counter, relaxed enough to mold to her backside instead of crush it.

Long seconds passed. She counted eight.

It was still too quiet. Her heart rate had calmed but she still stared resolutely ahead at the sink instead of risking a glance up at her captor.

She could practically feel him plotting, the gears shifting in his addled mind.

The pressure on her neck eased completely and his hand snaked around to the front of her throat to push her upright against him so he could gesture to their reflections as he watched her carefully in the mirror.

"What do you see, ма́ленькая моя?"

The mirror loomed in front of them, reaching up to touch the ceiling.

Their reflections looked back at her; Levi's face too serene for someone who had only seconds ago been rabid. 

Evie's face was intentionally blank. There was something happening in his head and she needed to not give him an excuse to act out through her.

She needed clarification. More data to guarantee a satisfactory answer.

Evie's hands gripped the edge of the counter for leverage in case she needed it and she stared up into his reflection, "You, or me?"

Levi made a thoughtful noise in the back of his throat, making her think he wanted to hear both, before settling, "Unlike you, my confidence is real. I'm not faking it. Your boundaries don't make sense."

Evie's brows drew together, confusion pursing her lips into a pout at the slight. She wanted to defend herself out of habit, but quashed it down and forced herself to hear him out.

Communication. She needed to communicate with him as often as he allowed it if she was going to understand how his mind worked.

Levi approved and relaxed against her, drawing himself down to nuzzle her cheek and wrap his arms around her. 

His movements were slow, as seductive as his voice whispering in her ear, and now for the first time with a purr of his previously nonexistent accent, "You know I'm dangerous. You know exactly what I'm capable of and here you are in my arms, completely at ease as I give you my affections. You are not stupid. I saw you look away from the torture tools down in the basement. You know what those drains are for, Evie."

He said her name with a wicked smile, his tone lilting as if he wanted to laugh at her; or with her.

It was getting hard for Evie to swallow down the uneasiness that Levi was causing to crawl up her throat.

He was up to something; reminding her of his monstrosity as he acknowledged her casual acceptance of it and the handsome package that housed it.

She just hadn't expected his voice paired with an accent to sound so damn _alluring_. Fucking Hell. She hadn't been mentally prepared for how perfect the dark timbre of his voice would pair with the rolling of each "R" that Russian speakers used with English.

It sounded dark and smooth, like the finer whiskey she was partial to.

He chuckled lowly, like he was laughing at a private joke, "You woke up chained to a basement floor and you've been taking it _so well_."

Had she?

Doubt crept in. She broke eye contact and looked into her memories. Eyes angled down to concentrate on his words instead of Levi's embracive presence.

Levi's smile burned a little brighter, like a shark scenting blood as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Everyone cries. Screams. Begs. But you're confident," he remarked, though it didn't sound exactly like praise, "You take too much in stride for anyone to mistake you as normal."

Evie stilled, withdrawing in.

He was pushing her boundaries to see what would happen. His face was slipping into that reptilian facade as he searched her reflection for reactions.

Levi's hand gently pressed on her throat, canting her chin back so he could stare intently into her eyes, his voice close enough to feel the vibrations of it against her ear, "You're damaged."

There was certainly no reason to argue that. Evie had acknowledged this long ago. She accepted it as the statement it was instead of an insult.

Levi stretched back up and rested his large hands on her shoulders, voice growing louder, commanding, "Don't misunderstand me, mоя дорога́я, you are damaged, but you are a survivor. A fighter."

What?

He had said it with respect. With open admiration.

That didn't go where Evie thought it was.

Agitation crossed his handsome face and his expression became strained as he continued, his voice painted with a passion that she had only seen him resort to violence with, "I don't understand how you are confident enough to fight for your body when someone will abuse it, but not confident enough to bathe with me, even knowing that I have already seen you inside and out, felt every inch of you and washed you clean?"

She gasped, surprise parting her mouth in a soft exhalation from Levi's words.

It was raw. Romantic.

It was reassurance given with such affirmation that it was staggering coming from such an unorthodox source.

It was one of the sweetest things she had ever heard.

Levi persisted, his hands absently rubbing her shoulders in a fidgety manner, "Why would I go through all of this trouble if I didn't want you? If I didn't want to fuck you after stripping you down and washing away the blood then I simply would have killed you right then."

There was a pause, heavy and silent and completely out of place in her captor's ardent argument.

Was he...convincing himself? Or actively remembering?

Evie felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up from the drastic shift, and it was like being submerged in ice water after experiencing the lazy warmth of a sauna.

Levi's grip tightened, and his tone became...dull, as lifeless as the look that stole over his eyes as he fantasized, "Right after I washed your hair I would have wrapped my hands around your lovely little neck and held you under the water until you slipped away in silence or in screams."

Evie felt abject terror.

Her eyes widened, her heart raced as her blood ran cold.

She had come close to dying and she hadn't even realized it. This man had held her life very literally in his hands. Had weighed her on the scales of his questionable judgment and had decided that he wouldn't murder her during bath time. 

She wanted to throw up. 

It hurt. Knowing she wasn't safe and wondering if she ever truly would be.

A shudder overtook her and it was strong enough to jar Levi from his trance as he felt it travel through her and into his hands.

He blinked, and she watched him look down at her, for the first time breaking away from seeing the reflection of her face in the mirror to bodily look down at her, the real person in his hands.

He frowned as he tried to soothe her, rubbing her upper arms along with her shoulders in what he might have assumed was a comforting gesture, but was too strong to be soothing in hands more suited for destruction instead of seduction.

"What do you see?" He asked, squeezing her in a hug against him when Evie's face remained mildly distressed, "What do you see that prevents you from seeing what I do?"

Evie bit her lip.

She was spooked about her near death encounter that she had heretofore been oblivious to, but she also knew that now was not the time to dwell on it. Levi commanded all of her attention. His presence was like a natural disaster, breathtakingly beautiful and just as deadly.

Evie promised herself a private freak out later, and focused. Switching from scary sweet to fucking scary within seconds came naturally to Levi, but as a spectator turned unwilling participant, Evie was struggling to follow his steps. He was dancing through one genre to a next, pulling her along and she had to make sure she wasn't stepping on his toes.

He was waiting for her answer.

Evie spied the forgotten tub behind them. It was nearly full, the water green and fragrant with whatever Levi had put into it. She needed to hurry this along.

"I'm not that pretty," Evie stated, "It's just that simple. I'm not ugly, but there isn't anything special about my looks. I'm confident because I respect myself. I don't love who I see in the mirror, but I do respect her."

Peripherally, because she was resolute in ignoring any sympathy from a man who shouldn't have any, she could see Levi's intentions before he moved her, so she allowed it with complacency.

He turned her in his arms, his hands cupping her bottom so he could lift her onto the counter where he kissed her.

It was slow and sweet, and Evie focused on her stale morning breath so she wouldn't get swept away in the gentle flow, laden with emotion but lacking the heat of passion.

His lips molded to hers gingerly, his tongue slipping in to lave gently at her own as if to lick away a hurt that she didn't know she had carried until he had tried to soothe it.

It felt tender in a way that was alien to her, as if the kiss itself held meaning instead of it being a means to an end.

"You know nothing of emotion, ма́ленькая моя," he whispered against her lips. 

It stung, carrying the same bite as his words from the previous night. 

'Even my mother loved me.'

Evie brushed it off, trying to smile and make her voice light as she submissively looked away, twiddling her fingers, "I don't know...I'm becoming intimately familiar with fear as of late."

Levi scoffed, "You jest because it is true. Never have I met a woman more in tune with her head than her heart."

He watched her, as if waiting for an argument and when she gave none he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, drawing it all the way through and then gripping the back of his neck in a gesture of exasperation.

He stepped aside, and his stance straightened. Another shift.

Still managing to look down on her from her elevated position on the counter, he demanded with eyes expressionless as painted glass and his voice as sharp as shards, "Get in the fucking tub."

The anger resonating off of him made it easier to skitter off the counter and lift her shirt over her head. If she focused only on the command it wasn't so hard to shimmy Levi's underwear off of her bottom as she skittered away from his ire.

Orders were easy to follow when she was reminded that death was the alternative, and Levi was reminding her that it was.

She should be grateful that it was so simple a demand. Something that she could do without fear of failure. She actually did want to bathe as opposed to going without, she decided, sinking a foot into the hot water.

She almost cheered when her foot disappeared into the opaque, light green depths. A little privacy was better than none.

_Thank fuck. Better than nothing._

She sunk into the bath to quickly cover herself and moved to make room for Levi.

The bucket seating in the tub made the water deep enough for her to have to make herself float to keep her head above water, so she opted to tuck her legs underneath her so she could maintain a better balance.

Levi swaggered to the tub and sought her eye contact with a very meaningful and intentional stare.

Evie pretended to be preoccupied with scenting the water, taking in the perfume of green tea, citrus and ginger until it became apparent that Levi wasn't going anywhere until she gave him her undivided attention.

It took effort to force herself to look up. Her position in the tub put her at the same vicinity as Levi's crotch, and she had little doubt that Levi wanted to see her reaction when he unveiled himself.

Resolutely, she met his eyes and focused only on his pupils as he pushed his underwear over his hips and down his muscular thighs.

Evie didn't look. Forced herself not to as a crooked smile picked up one side of his mouth as he watched her struggle not to peek as he settled into the water opposite of her, taking much longer than anyone should, she decided, as his abdominals flexed dangerously at the edge of her vision.

"You're blushing," he commented, and pressed a button to turn on the jets.

"The water is hot," she countered behind her glasses that were starting to fog.

"It's about to get hotter," he said, as casually as if commenting on the weather, "Get your ass over here."

It was hard to shut off her brain, but Evie needed to. If she approached this with tunnel vision it would be more manageable.

Her hands gripped the edge of the tub and used the leverage to pull herself towards him.

Adrenaline flooded her when she happened a glance into his eyes, alight with a quiet giddiness at her obedience.

Evie speculated if people who chased tornados felt the same sense of trepidation when they were close enough to feel the danger of the wind pulling them in.

Levi's hands landed on her arms and he pulled her all the way in when she started the slow her approach.

She landed in his lap, her bent knees on either side of him as she held herself on top of where he had placed her.

He smiled, that dark little secretive smile that made her nervous, and he held out his hand.

"Glasses."

Evie placed them in his hand and blinked experimentally down at the water. Offhandedly listening to him as he used his long reach to set them out of the way again before fumbling with something, she assumed bath supplies.

She couldn't see shit, she realized, sighing out in relief.

Water suddenly splashed down onto her head like a wave crashing down and she panicked, clinging to Levi with one hand while the other shoved her wet hair out of her eyes violently.

Water sloshed in her ears for a second and when it cleared she could hear Levi's quiet laughter.

Her panic ebbed away once she understood that Levi wasn't reconsidering his stance on drowning her in the tub and she went lax, relief flooding through her as she relaxed against him.

Wait.

She was quite firmly pressed against him, breasts, lady parts and all had been squashed up to the unyielding line of his body.

Levi didn't waste time and she was met with the sensation of shampoo being drizzled on her head once she started to process her newly closed in proximity.

Levi's arms bracketed her in and then his long fingers were massaging her scalp, spreading the shampoo through her skull and instinctively she closed her eyes to the sensation, conditioned to do so by every hair appointment she had attended.

It felt good. It always did. And the pads of Levi's callused fingers felt great on her scalp as he worked in the minty shampoo into her roots.

This was the reason her hair was so healthy. She got her ends trimmed like clockwork so her touch starved senses could delight in the feeling of being pampered by someone else.

It felt good to feel someone's fingers in her hair.

Her hair appointments were her guilty pleasure. It was a safe way to be touched without stripping down for a paid massage.

It was comforting in how intimate, and how simultaneously it wasn't that had her scheduling an appointment every eight weeks.

But this was intimate.

Her fingers twitched at Levi's sides from where her hands had found themselves. She could feel his dick in the apex of her thighs, solid but not hard.

She was stripped down and pressed bare against the man who had abducted her as he washed her hair.

How many times had he done this to her unconscious body? Not to mention, he had shaved her. It was weird and she hadn't wanted to focus on it before, but now with her smooth skin pressed against his it was hard not to.

_Don't dwell on it. It's really weird but it's manageable. Worry about it later and focus on him. Focus on this. This is nice and it might be one of the last nice things you get._

No one ever touched her like this, with such care. Why would some random murderer treat her so kindly. He was scary. But this...this was care.

Her eyes drifted open to see Levi staring at her like she was new and strange.

"This pleases you?"

Yeah, it's fucking great. About as great as anything can be when stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Evie tensed, unprepared for the sudden guilt pouring into her like a typhoon. She should be stronger. She should spit in his face and tell him that she wasn't scared of him. She shouldn't be cowardly even if it meant she survived. Didn't her dignity mean more than acting like a dog and taking the scraps that were offered to her?

As blind as Evie was, she could manage to see his face in the scant inches between them. It was in this close distance that she spied Levi frowning at the change in her demeanor, a storm starting to brew in his eyes multicolored eyes.

_Shit._

This was more upsetting than her guilty conscious. She needed Levi to remain in a good mood as she was currently fucking it up. Had fucked up too many times before breakfast. She was smarter than this. Heroes die and nothing that had happened to her so far was worth dying over.

"I love the feeling of someone playing with my hair," Evie word vomited.

Levi blinked in response, fingers starting to still.

Evie's sixth sense told her this was bad. He had planned out their bath time and going off track and away from his expectations was not a good idea.

"Please don't stop," she begged quietly.

Puzzled, Levi stilled completely, his hawk eyes searching her face momentarily before starting again.

Evie breathed easier, closing her eyes, and Levi renewed his ministrations with the same kneading force he had demonstrated before.

It felt good, but Evie knew it shouldn't. And that was enough. She wasn't excusing his behavior, but it would be stupid to respond to him in such a way that ensured her demise. He wasn't killing someone in front of her. Her ego was the only thing that needed saving and even she had abandoned it completely at times.

The acknowledgment calmed her and she let her head lull down so her chin could rest on her chest, encouraging Levi to massage the base of her hairline.

Levi continued, seemingly content with the task and Evie thanked her lucky stars that he hadn't diverted from this course to one that allowed the chance of an altercation.

"Evie,"he called, and she came back to him, "Lean back."

She did so obediently, her back arching to make sure she submerged her hair and not her ears so water wouldn't settle in them, and kept her eyes closed as she did so.

The movement caused her breasts to break the surface of the water, but Levi's left hand on the back of her neck demanded her subservience to complete the unintended motion. She squeezed her eyes closed that much harder when embarrassment caused her cheeks to burn and tried to only think of Levi's other hand rinsing the soap out of her hair as he drug his fingers through her long, water weightless locks.

Once he was satisfied, Levi brought her back up to meet his dark smile, "You move like a whore, but you blush like a virgin.

Evie sputtered at the crassness, but Levi was already gathering her hair in his hand while the other squirted conditioner down the length of it as he held it above the water.

He chuckled and then proceeded to ignore her as he worked the conditioner in to her lengths. He made quick work of it and he procured a hair clip out of his bath supplies.

Evie raised an eyebrow at the seemingly inconspicuous item, wondering if he had always had it or if it had been something he had purchased for her.

Levi offered no explanation, instead, he gathered her hair into his hands, piling it on top of her head and clipped it into place.

Evie shivered at the cool bathroom air on the back of her bare neck, the awareness of it reminding her of one of her many vulnerabilities, and hazarded another glance at Levi. 

The dark, knowing smile had returned and Evie felt her heart beat a little faster.

Without breaking eye contact he grabbed a washcloth and dipped it into the water.

Warily, she watched him bring it behind her and then she felt him scrubbing the back of her neck with it.

She kept still as he worked it along her shoulders and then down her back with long strokes underwater. Compliantly, she lifted her arm so he could dip the washcloth and scrub her arm when it was apparent that it was next.

His hand and the washcloth disappeared into the green depths of the bath water and she felt him scrub her legs, down to her bare feet and then back up again.

She tensed as he pressed the towel against her stomach, and she gritted her teeth as he scrubbed at the soft flesh.

He moved up to her breasts, cupping one experimentally, and this was easier to endure. She relaxed into his hand. 

Breasts were supposed to be soft, ample. A handful of breast was good, a handful of belly was not.

Levi drew the cloth around the curve of her skin, thumb lingering to drag across her nipple as it hardened under his attentions. He repeated the motion to the other one with a firmer hand, eyes smoldering as he watched the emotions play across her face as he felt out her insecurities.

Evie wondered if it was her body or her inner turmoil that stoked his fires as she felt him twitch with interest between her legs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mоя дорога́я - my dear  
> ма́ленькая моя - my little one


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a long time. But I appreciate everyone who came back to read.

He wasn't stopping.

She had reacted and it had been enough to garner his interest.

Now, it seemed that he was trying to see what other responses he could wring from her. She wasn't entirely sure if his teasing was for the sake of sex or if this was his way of mapping out her limits.

Either way, the friction of his fingers was starting to ache in the best way. Heat began to stir treacherously low in her belly but Evie knew there was also danger in pulling away.

About as much danger as it was to stay and feel the inevitable focus of her attention as it narrowed down to Levi's hands plucking her chords to the rhythm of his whims, his callused thumbs strumming the sensitive and rosy thin skin of her pebbling nipples.

He was quiet, face drawn into an inquisitive wonder as he watched her fight between pushing into his hands and shuddering out of them.

"I'm glad I didn't kill you," Levi mused as he tested the weight of her chest in his hands, "I would have missed experiencing you like this...wanting my touch even as you resist it."

He was staring at her, eyes like colored sea glass as they drifted over where her chest met the water and then up to her lips, parted and slightly panting.

Evie's own eyes were watching the water ripple around them from Levi's ministrations; she was trying to avoid the way her cleavage deepened above the waterline from Levi pressing her breasts up before letting them fall back into his waiting hands. 

The roughened pads of his thumbs were still teasing the delicate skin of her nipples and her body was responding accordingly. 

Unfortunately, it didn't appear that he had any intentions of stopping anytime soon.

Fortunately, she was warm and clean and in this moment she sensed no ill will from Levi, only very male attention as he continued to toy with her.

Pinpricks of pleasure and pain were starting to spark from his touch and she was trying to endure it without succumbing to the maddening frenzy he was edging her closer to.

Trying and failing as she squirmed atop and against him. Reflexively her hands gripped his thighs behind her as she rode it out, frantically speculating on how much longer he would continue as she gritted her teeth.

Levi only continued, smiling as he watched her struggle.

A whine was trying to escape her and Evie felt her nails start to catch on Levi's skin, but he remained oblivious, his attention undivided.

"I've never had a woman who didn't want to be had," Levi revealed, tweaking her nipples and causing her to jump, "Watching you like this is...perfect."

Was she really the first who hadn't thrown herself at him?

Or was she the first he had ever kidnapped with the intent to have sex with?

If he murdered people it was a small relief to know that he didn't rape them before doing so. It was important to note that if there was no correlation between the two then her chances of surviving were increasing.

If he was pretending to be normal than it would make sense that no woman prior had resisted. He was handsome with the personality of an alpha male, and at times he was charming.

For someone whose idea of love at first sight involves murder, yeah, he's quite the catch, Evie. Mom would be so proud.

Her grip tightened, enough that she was now drawing blood and Levi groaned. It was quiet enough that she wondered if she had imagined it, and Evie was brought out of her musings and back into his teasing hands, searching his face for displeasure at the liberty she had taken.

His pupils were starting to dilate, and he seemed relaxed in a way she had yet to see him. Even on the couch the night before there had been a certain anticipation to his posture, a preparedness to respond.

Now, he was genuinely leaning back, body mostly lax as he played with her in his lap, posture that of a lion that had eaten his fill.

He was content. 

Whatever personal demons that had been whispering in his ear, baiting him to violence during their interactions, seemed to be on radio silence in their shared physical intimacy.

_Sex calms him_.

Was it a chemical reaction? Or an emotional response? Was it just the simplicity of physical stimulation? Or was it because he believed his attempts at seduction were working because she was allowing his attentions to continue.

Evie felt her face start to flush. Whatever it was, she was experiencing a few reactions herself. The water was still hot and now her blood was starting to race. 

Her constant awareness of Levi's own threat level was seemingly low, and her own relief at this was allowing for a relaxed opposition.

"Your body betrays you," Levi said, looking directly into her blown pupils, the usual ring of brown around her iris eaten up by black to leave a slender ring of green.

Of course he would notice, but she wasn't the only one. She could feel him filling out, hardening against her.

_Fuuuck._

Her heart started to beat faster.

Was this it?

Was it happening?

Levi wrapped his hands around her waist and lifted Evie, wide eyed, in the water. 

In a controlled movement that belied his strength he reversed her position in his lap and brought her flush against him, trapping his length between her ass and his abs as he hooked her legs open and over his own.

The angle Levi was forcing her into had gravity pulling her down into the water. His right hand came up to cup her breast and pin her securely to him so he could bend his own knees and spread her open even further without her falling in too deep.

Evie audibly protested at the vulnerable position, but it devolved into an alarmed cry when Levi slotted his middle finger along her entrance.

"Hush," Levi commanded, "My fingers are bigger than yours but I won't tear anything if you sit back and relax."

_Relax, he says. It'll be fun, he says. I'm just going to make it awkward and fucking awful._

Adrift, her hands anchored her to the edge of the tub in a white knuckled grip in an attempt to calm herself.

She felt too open and exposed, opaque water be damned. Just because she couldn't see what was happening didn't mean that she wasn't feeling it acutely. Her legs felt like she about to get a PAP smear and all she was missing was the stirrups in place of Levi's knees parting her open obscenely wide.

It all felt wrong, alien, and unintentionally she prevented Levi spreading her open further; for the first time not following his instructed movements as his other hand glided over her legs to coax them open.

He stilled, and Evie felt it for what it was: the calm before the storm.

Levi's voice was thunderous, harsh and unhappy in her ear, "Submit."

He growled, low in his throat and the sound was enough to still her, to remind her who exactly was at her back as his body became a line of tension underneath her.

How quickly had she forgotten the way he had almost smashed her face into his countertop, had almost drowned her in her sleep.

It was terrifying that she couldn't see his face to aptly gauge his fury. 

Evie shivered, even as the hot water surrounding them caused perspiration to bead across her face, she shivered despite it. His hostility was a tangible thing, an unspoken threat that reminded her that only a few inches of water was needed to drown in and that he had plenty at his disposal.

She sighed, her breath escaping her in broken exhalations, and she forced her legs to open. To submit as she closed her eyes and leaned her head back onto his shoulder to expose her neck.

Her body language didn't go unnoticed, and minutely, she felt Levi release the breath he had pent up in his anger.

Words weren't needed, not that Evie trusted herself to speak. She was flustered and she couldn't guarantee the right ones when all she could focus on was the blood rushing in her face and the tautness in her body at the vulnerability of her position.

Hot and bothered, but not in the fun way.

Like this she couldn't touch or distract him and in turn distract herself. 

Like this he was ensuring that she wouldn't be turning the tides in her favor anytime soon.

All she could do was feel and relinquish control. She felt helpless. If she was participating it made it easier to trick herself into believing this was her choice.

"Pull that shit with me again and I'll make sure you regret it," Levi promised, a hint of his darker nature slipping into his voice. The tone making it sound like he was smiling with menace loud enough for screams.

Evie winced, and nodded, fearing that his patience was like a bow about to snap in her grasp. 

He was pissed. Seconds ago he had been relaxed and almost happy, and she now she had unintentionally ruined it. 

Anxiety coiled in her chest and began to tighten into frustration.

She needed their first experience in intimacy to have good connotations but now she was sinking into turbulent waters with a furious Levi at the helm.

If only he had taken her last night, then perhaps this would have been easier to bear. Easier to pretend on a bed instead of here, stretched out before him.

Tears pinpricked her eyes as she tallied her failures, her thoughts a chessboard of plays she could have taken instead of the actions that had led her here.

He was so big, so angry, and he had already contemplated killing her in this tub before. Had he held her like this while she had been unconscious?

Had he let her fall beneath the water for a moment as he considered it?

No. Nothing good would come out of asking questions she didn't want the answers to. Panic had slipped in and she couldn't allow it to linger. Panic made people into prey.

_Get your shit together, Evie._

"Have you ever done this before?"

Evie started, surprised by the question and almost concern that could be heard in it.

She considered it after she realized he wanted a serious answer.

She had been fingered, yes, in the intimacy of her home in a dimly lit room with someone she had trusted. But she had been in control.

In a bath tub, spread out of her comfort zone and out of her control, no. The situation was different. It was new and unknown.

Evie shook her head, and kept her eyes closed. It felt easier to admit when she didn't have to look. Like a scary movie, only she was in it.

At her response, more of the tension lessened in his body, and it was enough of a good sign for Evie to peek up at him between her water laden lashes.

He was staring at her, expression empty as he regarded her with his stormy eyes, "This will be one of many firsts."

Levi's harshly beautiful eyes made her nervous, but the sharp lines of anger around them had dissolved.

She relaxed, and it was apparently what Levi had been waiting for.

Without warning, he plunged his finger into her.

Helplessly, she bucked against him and whined at the discomfort, reaching back blindly to clutch at his shoulder as she instinctively attempted to retreat away from it.

His finger was much bigger than her own. But then again, she didn't prefer penetration when she got herself off.

Levi released a sharp intake of breath behind her, "Fuck, you're tight."

The intrusion had hurt. 

Not terribly so, as it was only one finger and she hadn't been expecting it so she had been mostly relaxed. But he didn't allow her a moment of adjustment; already he was stretching her open, pushing at her walls languidly as if he was memorizing a layout.

His other hand, almost forgotten, renewed its previous ministrations, rolling her nipple around his deft fingers as he continued to plunge in and out of her folds.

She squirmed, and fought to keep silent. The pressure was intense. His hands were fucking ginormous and the unyielding exertion of his presence inside of her was all that she could focus on.

Levi chuckled darkly, the low sound drawing her attention.

Amusement had quirked up the corner of his mouth, and there was an arrogance in his face that spoke of how pleased she was so overwhelmed with sensation.

Ugh.

Male smugness aside, he was being far more generous with her than she thought he would be. His movements were slower and more gentle than she would have thought possible for someone with his unhealthy predilections.

It wasn't comfortable, but it wasn't entirely _uncomfortable_ either.

Levi pressed his thumb against her clit and added another finger, drawing a surprised cry from her mouth.

A full body tremor ran up her spine and the immediate pleasure of it, combined with her sudden relief at his unexpected kindness, took her breath away.

His thumb, as loathe as she was to admit it, was doing delicious things to her clit.

The touch there was more familiar to her, but also still different. She never took baths. The heat of the water combined with his manly hands was better than what she was used to.

Reflexively, she felt her pelvic muscles squeeze slightly around his fingertips in an attempt to mitigate the intensity of the sensation, and Levi momentarily stopped, seeming to analyze this development with favored interest.

The authoritative presence he had adapted to put her back in her place seemed to ebb away now, leaving a pleased curiosity behind. 

Now it was Evie's turn to be intrigued.

He had been so quick to anger, but perhaps that had been because his ego had suffered a blow by her recalcitrance to his ministrations.

She had been careful to stay subservient to his whims, and this first act of open rebellion had probably surprised him and his emotional nature had responded accordingly.

Evie had thought it might be best to let him do as he pleased with her, wondering if he delighted in exacting cruelty when he felt she deserved it, but now it was apparent that he wasn't punishing her for the sake of doing so, but because the challenge to his authority demanded it.

Her participation in the intimacies he forced upon her had always been met favorably and now she had solid proof that he was training her as much as she was trying to rehabilitate him into better handling herself.

Leaning her head back onto his shoulder she scrutinized his dilated eyes and the quicker huffs of his breathing and suddenly knew this position wasn't as helpless as she had previously thought. 

It was awkward with her legs spread so wide but Evie waited until his fingers had resumed pumping into her, and once they were knuckle deep she tightened herself around him, curious as to how he would respond.

Levi cursed. Hotly, and in Russian too quickly for her to hope to understand as he bucked into her, hard, with eyes pressed tightly closed.

Oh?

His gaze swiveled accusingly to her.

His face was angry again, but now she knew why.

She had power over him, in her own way, even as he demanded she submit to his whims it was now apparent that as the object of his obsession that he was greatly affected by her own favorable attentions.

Levi growled, the exchange not lost on him and he renewed his efforts in vigor laced with anger, eliciting a yelp of surprise at the way his long fingers intentionally curled upwards to rub insistently against at the spot he knew would drive her over the edge.

It was hard to focus when he was so adamant in bringing her to orgasm, but there was something happening here that she needed to understand and Levi was trying to distract her from it.

He was angry, but Evie knew it would pass if she didn't challenge him any further than she already had.

She felt confident in her new discovery, but her natural wariness at how precocious human nature was kept her cockiness in check.

She needed to push his boundaries much like he had been pushing hers. She needed to get under his skin like he was getting under her own.

And damn if he wasn't good at it.

She just needed to be careful and Levi's movements were still too punishing, too harsh. She needed to soothe his hackles before he could accuse her of gloating and redirect back to anger.

Her hand, which had been clutching to his shoulder, travelled up to his neck to coax him down for a kiss.

Her touch was gentle, as undemanding as she could make it, a request for permission.

The thought of morning breath put her off, but Levi followed the motion after a furrowed brow and a moment's deliberation, much to Evie's respite.

She needed to lose composure at his hands. It would stroke his male pride and put control of the situation back into his hands before he juggled her from pleasure to pain to take it back himself.

However, she needed to make him lose a little bit of control himself. If she let him only treat her like an object to play with instead of an active partner to engage, then it would be harder to garner his respect later.

Licking into the heat of his mouth, she forced herself to tighten around his digits with every pull out of her, moaning wantonly as her muscles clamped down on his own, making it an effort for Levi to withdraw from the pull between the apex of her thighs.

The effect was immediate. He matched her moan for debauched moan, his movements becoming less rushed and more distracted as her fingernails combed into the hair at the base of his neck.

Her free hand moved to her other breast that was free of Levi's hand and she mirrored his movements in tandem as she began to grind into his hand, trying to catch more of his thumb against her clit.

With another roll of her hips she tried to provide him with some friction for his neglected cock as it spasmed along the curve of her ass.

When Levi groaned her name deeply into her mouth, almost brokenly, Evie's breathing picked up.

She had been trying to work herself up, but the way her name escaped him pushed her over the edge.

Evie was sure it was the first time her name had ever sounded like that, so full of want and the heat of passion.

The small rational part of her brain left her, and behind only lust remained because it felt good, too fucking good. His apparent devotion to having her reach orgasm despite his own needs was a concept unknown to her, but one she was appreciating despite her circumstances.

He continued to push into her, continued to press against her swollen clit, continued to roll her aching breast in his hand as he huffed into her mouth and kissed her as if he needed her lips against his own to function.

Even the way his dick, hot and heavy as it throbbed far too intimately between the globes of her ass felt good as he moved against her.

There was a singular purpose in his handling of her. Every orgasm she had ever reached had been at her own hands, and now Evie was about to experience her first at someone else's.

The men she dated had never been able to get her this close before.

She had always blamed her own body for requiring too much stamina and effort but Levi had gotten her here almost effortlessly.

Had they all been bad at sex or was Levi that good? 

One of many firsts, indeed.

Peripherally she could hear the sound of the bath water slapping against the walls of the tub, Levi's heavy breaths between the sound of her own, and then her own quiet cry of release.

Pleasure burned hot and heavy in her slickening heat as Levi used his hand to fuck her through it. The steady force behind it causing ecstasy to lick up her spine and to cause her sense of equilibrium to slip as she fell into helpless shudders against him.

For a few moments everything stopped.

There was nothing and simultaneously everything. The absence of thought and the abundance of physical satisfaction that only sexual completion could bring.

And then there was chaos.

Levi's arm launched the bath supplies in a cacophony of crashes from the triangular ledge between the bath and the corner of the bathroom.

The motion was violent and it jarred her from her orgasmic haze with the forewarning necessary to realize Levi was about to relocate their positions.

Levi hooked his arms under her legs and brought them out of the bath water so he could sit them on the ledge he had cleared. 

Abruptly, she landed in his lap and he dragged her over his scarily proportionate dick.

His hands brought her up to straddle his waist and then he pulled her back to recline against his body.

Evie braced herself atop him, trying to block out the chill of the air when she heard Levi spit into his hand.

It didn't make sense until she looked down to see him wrap his spit slick hand around his impressive girth as he began to pump into his fist, his hand working his entire length from tip all the way down to his smooth and heavy balls.

"Holy fuck."

She had front row tickets to something that most people would pay to see from such an impressive male specimen.

Of course he would have the length and circumference of a porn star's package. He fit in his own hand well enough but Evie knew he was too wide for her own.

She couldn't tear her gaze away. It was simultaneously intimidating and intriguing as she wondered the logistics of their inevitable coupling.

There was nothing except the angry red crescent shaped marks from her nails to distract from the attractive curve of his long and corded legs and the impressive musculature of his abdomen as he undulated beneath her and bucked into his hand, raising the both of them up and off the ledge.

Her discomfort at the chill in the air was immediately forgotten in place of raw disbelief at the spectacularly pornographic scene she had become part of as she balanced atop the man who had kidnapped her.

Levi was a work of art, and once again, Evie marveled that something so beautiful could be so damaged.

After a few harsh and desperate jerks into his hand, Levi canted her jaw up to smash their lips together as he came.

He jerked underneath her, groaning lowly into her mouth as she felt his hot spurts of cum paint her breasts and stomach.

Evie could feel him continue to work himself through his orgasm until the fight of it went out of him, and he sucked in greedy lungfuls of air to regulate his breathing. 

He collapsed, as much as he was physically able to in the small space he had sequestered for them, and held Evie against him as he burrowed his face into her neck and continued to pant.

A pleased noise escaped the rumble in his throat, and then open handedly began to rub his cum into her skin.

_What the fuck?_

Evie tensed at the cooling slickness as it glided over her, but kept still as Levi delightedly worked his essence into her skin, rubbing it possessively into the soft skin of her stomach and then up to palm against her breasts.

_He's fucking marking me._

She could feel the heat in her cheeks in sharp contrast to the coolness of the air and hoped that this would be the only type of fluid he marked her with.

"ты моя," he whispered into her ear before he kissed it.

She didn't understand, but she blushed harder anyways, unsure if it was a reaction to the debauchery or the affection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks guys for reading. Now that I don't live by myself anymore it's harder to set aside time to write.
> 
> It takes a certain amount of peace and quiet to sink into the headspace I need to write and lately my time has been eaten up by visiting family, the demands of my job, and Hurricane Harvey.
> 
> I live in Houston and although I am quite all right and my friends and family are all safe, it's been really dreary recently. As one of the few people who made it through unscathed I've just been feeling rather guilty and helpless as I see my friends and coworkers struggle to pick up the pieces.
> 
> But, as always, thanks to everyone who's still reading and commenting. The support is really appreciated.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it’s been far too long. Thanks to everyone who liked and commented and bookmarked this little piece.

Effortlessly, Levi scooped her into his arms and with a foot flipped the lever that allowed to tub to drain as he brought them out of the tub.

Levi deposited her in front of his shower, his hand lingering around her waist even as he adjusted the temperature.

With a motion that was almost chivalrous, his hand on the small of her back as he ushered her in, he pushed her into the warm spray first.

Still touching, Evie noticed, even as he rinsed off the mess he had left on her with his other hand, a pleased smile tugging his lips as he washed off his handiwork.

He dislodged her hair clip, discarding it on a shelf and ran his fingers through her hair, rinsing out the conditioner with long drags of his fingers through her equally lengthy hair.

His hands traced around her curves with brisk efficiency and then he shooed her out with a towel from the shower door, gesturing to the clothes he had left on the counter.

Evie dried off, and approached the counter, her eyes finding Levi's watchful gaze from the shower behind her reflected in the mirror.

His eyes were daring her to run, as if he would enjoy the chase too much to not give her these little opportunities such as these whenever he could.

But Evie was patient. And more importantly, not stupid.

She tore her gaze away from him and sorted through the clothes.

A dark gray pair of sweats, a pair black boxer briefs, and two long sleeve thermals, one white and one black, and a single dark hunter green hoodie.

Would she ever see a bra again?

She gave a critical eye to the sweats. They were long and the only appropriate bottoms. Levi did not look the type to lounge around in his underwear. She was sure they were for him, even if this meant he planned on going commando. This left the single pair of underwear that was for her, a repeat of her chosen bottom attire, and the lack of extra layers was probably another deterrent to her escaping outside.

As tactile as he was, he did, however, seem like the type to appreciate the amount of bare skin her chosen outfit left him to play with. With him fully dressed and with her legs on display for his perusal it was another demonstration of power play.

It could be worse, she decided, and instead chose once again to be thankful for any clothes.

With a sigh she shimmied into the boxers. She opted for the white thermals, in the unlikely chance that she did escape and needed to blend in with the snow, and pulled the much too large dark hoodie over her shirt.

She was willing to bet it was for her anyway.

Evie took the initiative to brush her teeth after seeing Levi still finishing up in the shower. She had a strong suspicion he had already brushed his teeth. There was no telling how long he had been up before she had awoken, but his breath hadn't tasted terrible on her tongue so chances were he had been up long enough for the minty freshness to fade.

Her gestures were mechanical, her mind preoccupied with the recent development in their...relationship.

It was as if he was speed dating her, checking off relationship milestones as if he was checking off a To Do list.

First he had nursed her with soup, there had been dinner, shared even though he had nothing to eat, a make out session, they had cuddled during the night, had shared quiet secrets, and now he had fingered her and marked her in one of the basest ways possible.

Evie would bet money that oral sex would be in the near future.

It...was insane. Everything was insane. How had this happened? Attempted rape, murder, and then being kidnapped by a killer? She was in a different state, brushing her teeth and musing on his dating and sexual habits while she tried to ignore the torture tools in his basement.

What would happen even if she did escape? Prison?

Her life was spiraling out of control.

His arms sliding around her to hug her to his body startled her out of her musings.

She hurried to finish, finding it prudent not to keep him waiting.

"Clever girl," Levi praised, eying her clothing meaningfully as she put her toothbrush and the toothpaste away as he carelessly tousled a towel into his hair, shaking free the excess droplets with one hand before discarding the towel to return to his possessive hold.

He had already slipped on his own outfit for the day. He was so very quiet when he wanted to be that it alarmed her that she hadn’t noticed him doing it earlier. Either she had been too self absorbed in her musings or he was just that skilled at stealth.

"If you had put on the sweats I would have made you take them off,” he said with a mocking smile, making it clear that he almost wished she had so that he could bask in her discomfort.

Evie stopped her smart mouth from making her response sarcastic, and opted for a gentler tone, "I know you wear the pants around here. A demonstration isn't necessary."

There was something predatory and possessive in the way he curled his arms and body even further around her, one hand cupping her throat as he agreed, "It wasn't necessary."

Her heart sped up at the slow way he said the words, "But it pleases me to see you anticipating my wants and desires. You submit to me without even needing to be trained, kitten.”

Ugh. The smug demonstration of control annoyed her and it took conscious effort to not turn the corner of her mouth down in reflexive disapproval.

Levi kissed the top of her head, smiling at the annoyance that had tightened her jaw, "It also pleases me to see you in my clothes in a way that hints that you aren’t wearing anything underneath them. It’s a good look on you.”

The mirror was too tall to show how the hoodie came down to mid thigh, covering the boxer briefs, giving the appearance that there was nothing underneath.

Evie couldn’t see how indecent her outfit looked so it was easy to push away the embarrassment, but it was the compliment that caused her to fidget under his appreciative eyes.

It was such a normal, albeit typically possessive male trait, but it was one of many that Levi had demonstrated. For someone so attractive he was very insecure. If she ever encountered another male in his presence it would be wise to not do anything that could be misconstrued as flirting.

After a moment of open admiration for the way her thighs peeked out from under his clothes, Levi withdrew a brush from a drawer and worked on brushing out her tangles, fingers gentle as he worked.

Evie stilled, immediately wondering if he was doing the menial task because of her confession in the tub.

Her eyes flitted up once again to his in the reflection of the mirror and his knowing and arrogant smile verified that, indeed, it was.

Evie closed her eyes before she could see the mortification streak across her face.

Levi chuckled behind her, and continued, working more slowly than he needed to, intent on drawing the task out.

Was this another reward? For picking the right clothes? The thought elicited a conflicting range of emotions. Excitement and dread warred within her. Excitement at understanding another nuance to Levi’s inner workings, and dread at what it hinted at for her future.

She closed her eyes, allowing herself to be lulled into the sensation of his fingers in her hair. It was unnerving that these same fingers that gently threaded through her hair were the same fingers that had left the bruised rings around her upper arms.

Her eyes opened when she heard the sound of the brush being set aside, and she watched him fetch some kind of hair product.

The brands of his violent ownership were covered now, but only by his clothes. A kinder way to show how he possessed her, but just as deliberate.

Levi was being kind at the moment, but it wouldn’t do for her to forget how quick he was to resort to violence.

Her eyes met his again as he worked whatever it was into her hair, his eyes were light, but still calculating as he watched her think.

He worked the leftover product into his own hair and smiled darkly down at her, “I’m in a good mood, let’s try not to ruin it.”

_Yeah, no fucking shit, Sherlock._

Evie didn’t need the obvious stated, but acknowledged the warning anyway with a slight inclination of her head.

The corner of his mouth tilted up at her wordless obedience and he kissed the top of her head again before guiding her out of the restroom and downstairs to the kitchen.

The lights were already on downstairs and once again, Evie wondered how long he had been awake and what he had been up to while she had slumbered.

She needed to understand his schedule to better understand his moods.

Levi offered up nothing but continued to push her into the kitchen, stopping only to lift her up and set her on the counter next to the stove.

He made the movement so effortless that it reminded her yet again of the stark contrast of size between them as her feet dangled up and off of the floor.

His wide hands circled her waist and lifted her onto the high countertops as if she was nothing, as if he could hold her aloft for as long as he needed to, for whatever purposes he had in mind.

The strength behind the motion causes her to immediately think of his dark promise to her last night.

_You'll thank me after I pin you down and fuck you through the overstimulation._

A gasp escaped her as spark of arousal flared in her at the notion.

Levi stilling at the sound made her immediately uneasy that she allowed herself to give away so much in such a simple reaction.

She had stumbled over the rocks beneath her and now there was blood in the water.

It was a mistake.

Levi caught it and squeezed her waist meaningfully, a shark smile on his mouth as he situated himself closer, pulling her more firmly against him and forcing her legs to open around him.

“No need to be shy,” he purred, “It would be unusual if you were _completely_ immune to my charms. I’ve perfected my body to be just as adept at fucking as it is to fighting.”

Evie swallowed audibly, sensing danger in his frame but she didn’t understand why.

She had thought that after he had fucked his hand so harshly into orgasm with her along for the literal ride, that he might be more relaxed, but now the energy around him had amped up considerably at her unintended admission.

His shoulders were too broad and distracting as they caged her in and his jaw was as sharp as the intelligence in his jeweled eyes as he crowded her space, watching the way her throat moved like he wanted to catch the motion in his hands and pin it down against her trachea for him to study at his leisure.

Evie whimpered under the visual onslaught, fearful that he would act upon the dark ideas that were dancing in his eyes as he stared down at her with restless energy filling his frame.

The sound seemed to break his trance and Levi chuckled darkly to himself, patting her thighs as if he was pleased. As if she had done a particularly amusing trick.

“You make me want to break you, Evie. Wreck you in every possible way so that you respond to me like this, always.”

 _Ah_. She thought, as dread filled her. Her reaction had been too primal for his baser instincts to ignore, and now they were rising to the occasion.

One hand remained on her waist while the other crawled up her back to fist slowly, but surely into her hair as he began to inexorably tilt her head back.

He was waiting to see if she would fight it or follow.

Evie followed the motion, fear blooming in her belly and abruptly causing her heart to race, her pulse fluttering in her throat as he pulled himself out of her line of sight which made everything so much more _terrifying_.

Made her realize that he could rip her throat out and she wouldn’t know until the pain was tearing through her. Made her realize that she wouldn’t always be able to anticipate the mania that tore out of him like a tsunami, that she wouldn’t always be to see the water recede before he crashed into her, sweeping her along with his disastrous desires.

Her hands were shaking as she lightly clutched ever so feebly at his sides, trying to move to his wishes without falling awkwardly onto the counter, trying to appease him but not yet understanding how to reel him back towards sanity.

“Who do you belong to, mоя дорога́я?”

_Damn him._

It _hurt_. It physically hurt to say the words she knew he wanted to hear. Acid and bile were flooding her chest and drowning her heart. To feel her admission of weakness when so much of her had always been strong was like feeling part of her soul was being stripped.

She wanted to fight. She wanted to hurt him for hurting her like this. For making her so weak. For being the bigger monster between the two of them. He was a raging fire, but she had always been ice.

Her fury had always run cold, merciless, her actions a bitter frost that freezer burned those that inspired her ire and Levi was denying her this outlet. He burned too bright, too hot, too powerful to allow any display of dominance that was not his own.

He could break her, and that knowledge was a sobering thought. Evie hadn’t met anyone like Levi Volkov, before. She had never met such a perfect man made monster.

He was more capable. More ruthless. More of a threat than she could ever be.

Evie was small, but fierce.

But Levi was big, and more experienced.

She couldn’t win. And the knowledge shamed her, angered her, caused her to flush hot with emotion bubbling within her as he pulled her taut as a bowstring.

“You! You. I be-belong to you, Levi Volkov,” Evie gasped out, voice straining from the fear that had made her breathless with uncertainty.

It was the unknowing that truly terrified her. She had always been the master of her own ship and now someone else was steering. The loss was as devastating as the stakes were high. So very high. Her life was in his hands and it had never before felt so _delicate_ after waking up chained to a basement floor.

She was losing control. It was slipping out of her like saltwater rushing across a ship deck, leaving through her frantic eyes and up into her hair as she weathered his storm.

And then the inexorable pull on her hair stopped, and he kissed her throat, drawing a frightened cry from her lips that trailed into broken little breaths when it became apparent that no pain would follow as he continued to mouth at her throat, sucking a mark into her flesh that steadily grew in intensity until Evie released another cry, sounding like exactly what it was: a plea for mercy.

Evie could feel him smile in return, his lips moving over the bruised flesh, “Good girl, Evie.”

***************************

Levi made breakfast as if nothing unusual had happened. He had left her on the counter as he gathered supplies and ingredients and turned on his coffee pot.

He drank his coffee black and had dotingly poured sweetened creamer into her cup after asking how she had wanted it.

Silently, she watched him cook as she nursed her drink, watching him take long gulps of his own.

He made his omelettes peppered with a full array of meat and vegetables with a side of fried potatoes and fresh blackberries which he artfully placed into matching plates.

Evie wisely gave no reactions when he lifted her from the counter to slide her into a barstool, but made sure to thank him when he pushed a fork into her hand.

Evie watched him carefully as they ate at the breakfast bar. Levi had pulled her legs across his own and had held them comfortably there as he petted her thighs and systematically demolished the large amount of food on his plate.

He watched her eat the potatoes first, then the omelette, and was finished with his own plate by the time she started on the blackberries.

“Do you always eat one thing at a time?”

Evie blinked, and then frowned, not liking where this was going as she was unable to place his tone, “Is that bad?”

Levi snorted at her wording, “It’s just telling. It makes your submission to me all that much sweeter when I can see how much it bothers you to not be in control.”

Levi watched her bring an overripe blackberry hesitantly to her mouth, his eyes caught in the juice that had stained her fingertips like blood, mesmerized.

“However, you’re damaged goods, Evie. And that’s why you’re so intuitively submissive. Otherwise you wouldn’t ask me if it was ‘bad,’ you wouldn’t worry about it at all. You would have just answered the question and shrugged it off as conversation instead of critique.”

Evie said nothing, sensing a shift and a resulting tangent.

Levi leaned in closer, and Evie stilled completely, hand frozen, inches from her mouth as she nervously swallowed down the blackberry.

Her captor scrutinized the movement with far too much interest.

“I bet these are your favorite part,” he mused, watching her wide eyes, “And that’s why you saved them for last.”

It was true. But the steady and sure way he said it proved that he already knew it to be so.

Had he seen the way she had eyed them when he took them out of the fridge? Or was he just skilled at reading his prey? At prodding until it yielded the desired response?

Levi’s hand encircled her wrist and he brought her fingertips to his mouth so he could lick the red stains from her fingers.

“These are my favorite,” Evie admitted, supplying information as a way to distract not only him but also herself from the sensation of his hot tongue on her chilled fingertips, “I do always save my favorite part of a meal for last, but blackberries are my favorite fruit.”

“It’s the lingering flavor, huh? You leave for last what lingering taste will be best in your mouth?”

Levi said it graphically, and brought a blackberry to her lips and pressed it against her bottom lip to erase any lingering doubt.

The juice stained the delicate skin and he smeared it, painting her lips and then pushing it inside.

Evie’s tongue took it from his fingertips and he smirked as she carefully chewed, as if waiting for further instruction, to his delight.

She was. Evie was starting to sense the same manic energy as before that seemed to vibrate in him when his mood shifted for the worse.

He was watching her, arrogance and lazy pleasure outlining his jaw as he watched her swallow what he had given her.

Pleased, he pulled her completely into his lap and fed her the rest of the berries, watching her squirm as he toyed with them against her mouth like it was a game to see how red he could stain it.

Evie thought of her earlier musings.

This wasn’t exactly oral sex, but he was training her to accept whatever he placed against her lips.

She felt dirty, and the insinuation of what he was doing was enough to cause discomfort to lance up her spine, to cause her to sit straighter as her fingers toyed with the hem of the hoodie.

“You’re doing so well, моя́ хоро́шая,” he purred, taking in her rosy cheeks as he rubbed a blackberry suggestively on her tongue.

Evie relaxed at his words, a tension easing out from between her shoulder blades, relieved that Levi seemed content with just feeding her and drawing out her embarrassment.

Of course it was when she caught her footing that Levi pushed her again.

His free hand trailed up to her throat and his thumb was there again, feeling the motions of her swallows and unbidden, her pulse picked up again.

Levi was too focused on her throat. His attentions kept drifting back to it and had often enough that Evie was starting to have real fears about him choking her.

Evie didn’t like the idea. At all.

It went against every instinct she had to survive.

“If you don’t calm down....” Levi whispered, low and careful as if he was imparting a great secret, “I’ll think of it as an invitation.”

Evie shuddered, and forced herself to close her eyes and relax. She started with her center and forced it outwards, relaxing in his grip and falling ever so slightly forward, pressing ever so gently into his hands, even as she wanted to lean away, to escape.

Levi rubbed her thighs approvingly, petting her and kissing her forehead, “That’s my girl, Evie. Don’t fight it.”

Evie forced herself to start thinking instead of responding.

She wanted to panic. Logically, she had every reason to, and logically if she didn’t follow his instructions he was going to choke the air from her lungs.

She tried her best to check out. To meditate. To fucking go to sleep. But it was _hard_. And frustration was creeping in. Nothing made sense. She couldn’t relax. Couldn’t breathe. He wanted her to trust him not to do psychopathic things when he was clearly a psychopath.

_Pretend. Pretend he isn’t. Just pretend, Evie. It’s a game. He’s playing a game with you and you can’t lose._

Evie thought of the way he asked for how she liked her coffee. Thought of the way he had made sure she orgasmed first before he had taken his own pleasure. She remembered the vulnerability in his face as they had discussed scars and the way he had eyed her outstretched hand only last night.

Surely, there was some kind of warped kindness there, underneath the violent anger that slumbered in him. He wouldn’t have kept her alive if he wasn’t in some way looking for acceptance, looking for someone to reach towards him.

It clicked. In her head.

She just needed to reach. He wanted it. And he was demanding it because he knew of no other way to ask.

There were no guarantees that her logic was sound. No reassurances she could give herself with full conviction. She was gambling.

Evie went slack. She breathed out and let herself fall with the air she expelled from her lungs.

Levi caught her, his large hand bracing against her sternum instead of her throat as his other hand held her waist steady so he could cuddle her closer against his chest and tuck her head under his chin.

He petted her damp hair and stroked her back, murmuring words of praise and encouragement as plaintive relief caused her to go boneless in his grasp.

Evie couldn’t hear what he was saying, but counted it as another victory even as anxiety sunk into her gut like a harpoon. She yearned to sink into his arms and pretend there was safety there, even though she knew there was none.

It felt good to pretend as a fine tremble coursed through her as her adrenaline crashed.

It was easier with Levi surrounding her with his warmth and his scent permeating her senses as he held her firmly in his arms, hold protective as it was possessive.

Evie didn’t feel the tears on her face, but Levi smiled as he felt them dry on his shirt, his hand never stopping in his ministrations as he rocked his charge back and forth.

“Let it out, ма́ленькая мо, I’m here to catch you.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
